


The Suit

by imlikat



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alcohol, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Humor, Hand Jobs, Hangover, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oral Sex, Set in Bleach universe, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Violence in Later Chapters, awkward erection, but the time skip made it A/R, chad obviously has a big dick, dramatic Uryuu, fight scene with hollows, inexperienced Chad, inexperienced uryuu, ishida has mixed feelings about ichigo, uryuu is an excellent tailor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:35:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25078495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imlikat/pseuds/imlikat
Summary: With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench into his neatly-laid plans.
Relationships: Sado/Ishida
Comments: 31
Kudos: 34





	1. Where I End and You Begin

**Title:** The Suit, Chapter 1/?  
**Rating:** currently R  
**Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
**Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.  
**Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

**Chapter 1**

_There's a gap in between  
There's a gap where we [meet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyTY6Z-Fqzw)_

The sun poured down on the rooftop, warming the concrete and creating stark black shadows around Kurosaki Ichigo and his usual clique. It soaked through Uryuu's shirt, making his shoulders tingle with warmth as he half-listened to the foursome carrying on an animated discussion from several feet away. It wasn't eavesdropping, as he was ostensibly eating lunch with them—even if he wasn't exactly sitting with them. The roof was a big place, and in his opinion, companionship didn't mean that one had to be crowded.

"Harutoki's wedding's not too far off now," Ichigo said.

He got a slow nod from Chad in answer. Popping a handful of chips into his mouth and crunching them noisily, Ichigo asked, "Did you find your suit?"

"It doesn't fit anymore."

Uryuu's attention sharpened. He chewed thoughtfully, subtly observing Sado Yasutora—Chad, to his friends—the impossibly wide shoulders, the long, long legs, the square-palmed hands that made his water bottle look like a salt-shaker.

"I just saw you in it two months ago!" Keigo protested, his eyes wide. "Are you seriously still growing? Man, that's freaky."

"I'll wear my uniform," Chad said quietly, and then went back to eating his lunch.

"You can't wear your uniform to a western wedding!" Keigo argued. "You've got to wear a suit or something! The uniform's just out of the question."

"Actually, Chad, I agree with Keigo," Mizuiro said, his voice cool.

Ichigo frowned at Chad, who simply shrugged.

"You can't buy one?" Keigo asked. "There's that place downtown that's always got suits on sale—you've seen the commercials."

"Nah, they don't have any his size," Ichigo said, his frown deepening the furrow between his eyebrows.

The wind kicked up, whipping around the roof, and Uryuu placed his juice box atop his wrappers to keep them from flying away. He watched Chad as they all sat deep in thought.

Mizuiro tucked his hair neatly behind his ear. "I'll be going to Tokyo next weekend; I could keep an eye out for something. They have all kinds of specialty clothing stores in the city."

Chad shook his head slowly, which Ichigo interpreted: "He can't afford it. His stipend doesn't cover much more than rent and groceries."

"Thank you for the offer, though," Chad added. For a few moments the rooftop was quiet but for the wind, until a distant, feminine shriek, followed by raucous laughter, sounded from the ground below.

"My dad might have a suit that you could let out," Ichigo offered around a mouthful of sandwich. "He's a pretty big guy."

Uryuu took a deep breath, then sighed, eyeing Chad's wide shoulders. That would absolutely not work. "Not big enough," he interjected, and Ichigo jerked his head in Uryuu's direction as if he'd forgotten he was there. Which he probably had. "Sado-kun's obviously several sizes larger than your father. That kind of alteration would be impossible."

Ichigo made a disgusted noise and popped the rest of his sandwich into his mouth, and the bell rang before they could discuss the subject any further.

***

Throughout the rest of the day, Uryuu mulled over the problem. The solution was simple, really, and he'd been on the verge of suggesting it up there, on the roof. Now though, he was glad he hadn't; that kind of friendliness was something he was hesitant to publicly display, even after all he'd been through with Ichigo and Chad and the others.

He took mental stock of his supplies, and did a few calculations concerning the lengths of fabric he had at home, and after the last bell rang, he took a left at the school gates instead of the right that would take him to his home.

He walked a block, and then leaned against a streetlamp in a patch of sunshine and waited, thinking idly about Chad's problem. He'd never given much thought to what it must mean, to be so big in a country where people were generally so small—he supposed it made sense, then, why Chad was so partial to the big, flower-print shirts he frequently wore. There couldn't be wide variety of wardrobe choices in his size.

After about five minutes, Chad strolled into view. His shaggy head perked up when he caught sight of Uryuu.

"Ishida," he greeted with a small smile.

"Hello, Sado-kun." Uryuu fell into step beside him. Knowing that Chad wouldn't ask what he was doing walking him home, Uryuu jumped straight into his offer.

"I have some experience in tailoring suits," he began, and he felt his palm slip on the strap of his satchel, and he realized that he was actually a little nervous. He cleared his throat. "I also have a pattern I could alter and a bolt of cloth at home. It would be grey, and maybe a little heavy for the season, but I could make you a suit."

They walked half a block before Chad answered, "That would be too much work."

"It would be a good challenge," Uryuu countered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I've never tailored for someone of your... dimensions. I could learn from it."

Chad stopped and turned his head to face him, studying his expression. Sunlight glowed along the hard curve of his jaw and caught in his thick brown hair, bringing out highlights that shimmered like copper wire.

Suddenly Uryuu was even more nervous. "I insist," he said, his voice confident and edging into bossy. "You want to go to your friend's wedding, don't you?"

Through the fringe of his hair, Chad studied him for a few more long seconds. "All right," he said, smiling. "Thank you."

Uryuu nodded and felt the knot of tension in his chest melt away. He began walking again. "I have my tape and notebook with me, so we can get your measurements today, if that's acceptable."

"That's fine," Chad said from beside him.

About fifteen minutes of walking in a companionable silence brought them to Chad's place, and Chad held the door open to let him in. Uryuu toed off his shoes and glanced around; at first look, it was a tiny little box of an apartment, the view of the river through the front window its only redeeming feature.

Chad placed his book-bag on a low table and fished a pair of water bottles out of the refrigerator.

With a slightly preoccupied "Thanks," Uryuu accepted the bottle of water, then watched Chad's back as the other man strode into the bathroom. He took a few sips of water, eyes roaming around the apartment once more. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dimmer lighting in here, he could see that his first impression wasn't quite accurate. Sure, it was small, but it wasn't at all cramped, and it felt very comfortable. Futon folded neatly in the corner, interesting posters on the walls, a shelf filled with books and CDs and vinyl records. A bass guitar on a stand beside a small amp. Interesting.

Deciding he'd spent enough time being nosy, Uryuu walked deeper into the apartment to a small, clean kitchenette, where he placed his satchel on the counter beside a handful of college brochures. He eyeballed them, slightly curious. All of them seemed to be for schools in and around Tokyo. It looked like a smaller version of the stack on his own desk at home.

At a soft footfall, he turned. And had all the thoughts knocked right out of his brain, because Chad had come up behind him silently, and was now standing there with his hands at his sides, his posture totally relaxed... and he was wearing nothing but a pair of white boxer shorts.

Uryuu blinked.

"Something wrong?" Chad asked, shifting his weight slowly from one foot to another.

"No, no, you just surprised me," Uryuu prevaricated, glad that his brain was cooperating at least that much. "I didn't know you'd be standing there."

"Sorry," Chad said with a duck of his head.

"It's fine," Uryuu said, with conviction. "I just need to make a sheet for you, and we'll begin."

At Chad's nod, Uryuu turned back to the counter and opened his notebook. He leafed through to a page with a short column of pre-written labels; the basic measurements he'd need for any project. Height, shoulders, chest, waist, hips, inseam. He pencilled in 'Sado Yasutora' at the top of the page, and then began adding additional notations. Neck, biceps, thighs. He bit the tip of his pencil and added more. He'd neared the bottom of the page when Chad spoke up behind him.

"That many?"

Uryuu glanced back to see Chad leaning in, reading over his shoulder. He cleared his throat. "You have a... unique build."

When Chad simply nodded, Uryuu made one more notation, and then turned smartly on his heel.

"Now we can begin," he announced.

Chad stood still as a statue as Uryuu circled him and began the process. When Uryuu was at his back, he let his eyes roam over the heavy, dense musculature of Chad's body. _Unique_ was the perfect word to describe him; Uryuu didn't think that there was a single human in existence whose body was quite the same as the one before him. Uryuu had a fine grasp on male anatomy, and yet Chad had muscles that he had never seen outside of medical illustrations.

The skin of his back was soft and supple against Uryuu's knuckles when he stretched the measuring tape from shoulder to shoulder. And aside from a few long, pale scars, remnants no doubt from their jaunts to Hueco Mundo, it was a deep coppery tone that contrasted vividly against the bright yellow of the tape.

The valley along Chad's spine was about a knuckle deep, and the long muscles on either side of it twitched when Uryuu accidentally brushed the skin between Chad's shoulder-blades.

"Sorry," he said, and he went back to measuring, reflecting that the only thing that saved Chad from looking freakish with all this bulging muscle was the length of his limbs, of his spine, of his neck. It felt a little ungenerous as he thought it, and so he nudged his concentration elsewhere.

To the posters on the wall, the neat stacks of CDs on the bookshelf and piled before a portable CD player, the bass guitar. He wondered what kind of music Chad liked. Frowning, he let his hands work, and he wondered why he didn't know this already. What _did_ he know about Chad, anyway?

 _I should really know a little more about someone I consider one of my closest friends,_ he thought, with more than a little self-recrimination.

Now was as good a time as any. He stood and circled Chad, determined to fix that oversight. "How do you know the groom?" he asked as he motioned for Chad to raise his arms.

"He plays drums in the band," Chad answered quietly.

Too late, Uryuu realized that he should have taken the chest measurement from behind. That is, if he wanted to avoid the awkwardness of reaching his arms around Chad's broad chest, and the sudden intimacy of the backs of his fingers skimming over Chad's pectorals as he secured the tape, knuckles glancing over dark nipples. Which were hard when Uryuu re-adjusted the tape, unable to believe that the measurement was accurate.

But accurate it was, and Uryuu's face felt slightly warm as he turned to make a notation. Next came Chad's waist, and as Uryuu pulled his hands away, he continued speaking.

"How long have you been playing together?" he asked, kneeling to measure the fist-sized bulges of Chad's calves.

"A few years," Chad said, his voice distant.

Furrowing his brow, Uryuu brought the ends of the measuring tape around the circumference of Chad's thigh—which was lightly dusted with dark, soft hair, and bigger around than Uryuu's waist. Perhaps he should have taken into consideration Chad's taciturn nature before he began interrogating him. Or maybe Chad was just uncomfortable; he was nearly naked, after all, and while he didn't seem the type to be overly modest, you never could tell. What was it they always said about the quiet ones?

Chad made a soft, uncertain noise, and Uryuu's eyes shot up to his face. Which was turning pink now, a sight that made Uryuu determined not to blush, himself. Alas, it was out of his control, and he felt his cheeks heating as Chad said, "Ah..."

Speechlessness was not uncommon with Chad, but blushing _was_.

"What is it?" Uryuu asked, willing the blood to leave his face.

When he didn't get an answer, Uryuu let his eyes crawl back down, over Chad's chest and stomach, and - oh. _Oh._ Pressing against the thin cotton of Chad's boxers, his penis was a thick, full curve, arcing around toward his right hip. Uryuu was certain it was lengthening as he watched. He swallowed. He could actually see the outline of the rim of the head through the fabric, and he had to swallow again before he spoke.

"Oh, that happens during this sort of thing," he said, keeping his voice casual, professional. Even though it was an utter, bald-faced lie, in Uryuu's experience—or it would have been, if at that very moment it hadn't been happening to him, as well. "Don't worry," he said confidently. "I'm almost finished."

He couldn't _not_ look at Chad's crotch now, as he drew the tape up the inside of Chad's leg for his inseam measurement, and he was intensely aware of his position, of the fact that Chad's erection was inches away from his face, and only covered by a layer of fabric so thin that Uryuu could make out the darkness of his skin through it. It was utterly ridiculous, not to mention embarrassing. For both of them.

He slid the tape higher up the inside of Chad's thigh and in an uncharacteristic decision to overthrow his usual methods, instead of moving things aside himself, or asking an obviously embarrassed Chad to do it, Uryuu simply estimated. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but it got him off his knees and let him turn his back to Chad, with both of their dignities reasonably intact. He wrote down his measurements, breathing slowly and willing his own budding erection to go away, and he stared at the page with a sigh.

Taking slow, calming breaths, Uryuu scribbled nonsense in the margin of his notebook just to give himself an excuse to not turn around again immediately. Forcing an even tone, he said, "I'll begin work on this tonight. It'll definitely be ready before the wedding - but it might take a few fittings before it's complete."

"That's fine. Just tell me what I need to do," Chad said, his voice steadier than Uryuu'd expected. Uryuu smiled wryly; must be nice to have nerves of steel. But Chad's calm delivery diffused some of the tension, and made it okay for Uryuu to turn around again. Though he very carefully did not look down.

"I will." Uryuu closed his notebook and began packing his things away. "I'm finished here, so I'll be going - I've got a lot of studying to do."

Chad seemed to hesitate before he spoke. "Okay. Thank you for doing this, Ishida-kun," he said, seeming completely at ease with his semi-nudity now, and the erection that he may or may not have had. "I owe you one."

"No, no," Uryuu protested, shaking his head fervently in denial.

"Really," Chad said, smiling. "If you ever need anything—"

"It's no problem," Uryuu interrupted. "I mean it. I look forward to finishing it," he said with determination, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He walked to the front door, hoping to end the conversation. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Ishida-kun," Chad said, just out of sight of the open doorway when Uryuu stepped outside.

When the door snicked closed behind him, Uryuu let out a deep, gusty sigh. Well, _that_ hadn't gone the way he'd planned. He never would have anticipated the tension—or his own level of distraction at the sight of Chad's body. This was... highly irregular.

With a sinking feeling in his gut, he looped his thumb under the strap of his bag and began the long walk home. When he turned the key in the lock of his home, he was still weighing the encounter in his mind. Through his solitary dinner, he dissected his reactions, and by the time he climbed under the blankets to sleep, he'd almost admitted that he had a problem.

Looking up into the darkness two restless, agitated hours later, he sighed and admitted defeat. No use lying to himself.

He'd thought he would make it through high school without the complications that came along with dating and relationships; all this time, and he'd never met anyone for whom his attraction was more than a shallow, short-lived thing, so he'd assumed it would remain that way.

Uryuu blinked. _Of course._ That was it. This was just a little infatuation, one that would go away as easily as it began.

And if it made his heart race when he imagined Chad's lips against his own—or the fact that he imagined Chad kissing him at all—well, that could be explained. He knew Chad, respected him, _liked_ him, in a way that had nothing to do with romance. Of course this attraction would be stronger than any in the past.

But fleeting and short-lived it had to be, he decided with relief, and he'd treat it as such. He gave it a week, at most. And he wouldn't make it worse by dwelling on the texture of warm skin under his hands, the way those high cheekbones looked darkened with a flush, the heavy, fabric-shrouded shape of the cock just inches away.

With a groan, Uryuu snatched up his pillow and jammed it down over his face.

...TBC

__________________________  



	2. 15 Step

**Rating:** currently R  
**Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
**Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.  
**Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

**Chapter 2**

_You reel me out  
then you cut the [string](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjQupL16rTqAhUQQ6wKHRNkDeMQyCkwAHoECAwQBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dbgsmr7t8zGE&usg=AOvVaw33rbnpWBZbMTc6y3MAgn4t)_

The week passed in a blur of activity and, much like he'd planned, his amorous urges toward Chad had all but faded away. The distance he'd imposed had helped, as had the fact that he'd kept himself busy with schoolwork and sewing. Chad's suit plus a few university applications and handful of smaller projects he'd had on the back-burner had done an excellent job at ensuring that he fell into bed mentally and physically exhausted every night.

So, when he approached Chad at lunch the Thursday after the initial offer, it was easy enough to speak to him, to ask him to come by to try on the suit. Almost as if nothing had happened.

However, he couldn't help but feel a little relief when Ichigo tagged along.

It was a little less easy to watch Chad unbutton his uniform pants in the middle of Uryuu's bedroom, where the suit was laid out across the bed. Uryuu frowned at the way his mouth went dry when Chad stepped out of the pants, his back to Uryuu.

"You decide what university you're going to?" Ichigo asked, leaning back in Uryuu's office chair with his feet propped on the desk. He prodded at a neat stack of brochures.

Uryuu swatted at his legs, but with less aggravation than he might usually display, thankful for the distraction. Once Ichigo's feet were back on the floor where they belonged, Uryuu answered. "I'm still weighing my options."

"Probably leaving Karakura though, huh?" Ichigo leaned forward, loosely clasping his hands over his knees. "Not a very good medical program here, I'd guess."

"I'm not going to be a doctor," Uryuu said with a frown. He glanced over at Chad, who was now tugging a crisp white dress shirt into place, and then back at Ichigo, who had a thoughtful, faraway look in his eyes. "I assume you have something worked out with Soul Society...?"

It was more than an assumption; he'd overheard snippets of Ichigo's conversations with Rukia, with Renji, with a handful of other shinigami. He didn't know the specifics, but he figured if Ichigo could pry, then so could he.

"Yeah, after I graduate I'll be moving on. Can't live out of gigais forever, you know?" Ichigo rolled his eyes to the side, frowning slightly. "I woulda gone on already, but a few of them insisted I finish high school first."

Uryuu nodded and adjusted his glasses. "How are you going to present it?"

"We're still working out the bugs," Ichigo said, then he drummed his fingers on the table once, quickly. "Some sort of accident, I'm sure. We're thinking about 'sending me off to study abroad' for a few years, then do it, soften the blow a little."

Chad cleared his throat.

"Looking good," Ichigo said, grinning as he swiveled to face Chad.

Uryuu grinned as well; even unfinished, the suit draped well on Chad's large frame. It had looked like a circus tent on its hanger, but Chad's body filled it well, and the lines of it were fantastic, if Uryuu did say so himself. He stepped forward and carefully tugged at the lapels, and then stepped back again. "Turn around."

"How does it feel?" Uryuu asked as Chad made a slow turn.

"Good," Chad replied.

"Does it feel too tight anywhere?" Uryuu asked. Once Chad came to a stop, facing him once more, Uryuu reached up to smooth the fabric at the shoulders.

"It's fine."

"Raise your arms," Uryuu instructed. "Hm. Turn around and do it again. Good. Since you're still growing, I'm sewing this so that I can let it out later without ruining it. Just let me—"

"Chad's not still growing," Ichigo interrupted from behind them.

"What? I thought you grew out of your old suit." Uryuu gave Chad a quizzical look, one eyebrow sliding up his forehead.

Chad shook his head slowly. "It shrunk in the wash."

"You washed it?" Uryuu squawked, too affronted to notice the pitch of his voice. At Chad's affirmative nod, Uryuu pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Okay. That favor you owe me?"

Chad seemed to come to a state of sharp focus, waiting on Uryuu's next words.

"Take care of this suit. Don't ever wash it. Take it to the dry-cleaners. Okay? The _dry-cleaners_." Uryuu crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes consideringly at Chad, who was listening quietly. "Better yet—I go to the cleaners every week. If it needs cleaning, I'll take it for you!"

Whatever he'd planned to say next was interrupted by Ichigo snorting, and Uryuu cringed inwardly. Normally it didn't bother him to lecture, but with Chad standing there so calm, it felt vaguely ridiculous to get so worked up over a laundry mishap.

But he _had_ worked hard on this suit.

"I won't wash it," Chad promised, serious and solemn.

"Good," Uryuu said decisively. "You can change now. I'll have this to you by the end of next week."

As Chad started shrugging out of the suit-jacket, Uryuu turned his back and busied himself by putting away the measuring tape and tools he'd had sitting out on his desk, in case he needed them. Ichigo rolled the chair to the side to give him room, and once everything was in its right place—and the burn of embarrassment had faded somewhat—Ichigo spoke up.

"We're heading downtown to get some food, then band practice. You can come if you want," he said casually.

A little startled by the unexpected invitation, Uryuu glanced up. Really, he considered Ichigo to be a friend, but not... he grasped for the right words inside his head. Not a real-world friend. More of a valued comrade-in-arms; someone he'd want on his side in battle, someone he'd put his life on the line for... but not someone he'd pal around with. And truly, he'd thought Ichigo felt the same way about him.

But then again... Chad was important to Ichigo, and Uryuu was doing Chad a favor.

He mulled it over for another few seconds, long enough to hear Chad walk up behind him. "I can't," he said finally.

"Are you sure?" Chad asked. "We'd like to have you along."

Uryuu was surprised to feel a twinge of regret when he answered, "I really can't. I've got studying, and I've got to be up early tomorrow."

"Maybe next time, then," Ichigo said with a quick grin, pushing up out of the desk-chair. "Well, we gotta run. See you around," Ichigo said, slinging his book-bag over his shoulder and strolling to the door.

Chad followed him, but he held back for a few seconds, looking for all the world as if he were about to say something important. Uryuu felt his spine stiffen up as the seconds ticked by.

But in the end, all he said was, "See you tomorrow."

"Right," Uryuu said. "Tomorrow."

And then Chad walked out of his room, and when Uryuu heard the front door close seconds later, he let out a huge sigh and sank down into his desk-chair, still warm from Ichigo's rump. It was highly frustrating to react the way he did to Chad—unsure whether he was more disappointed or relieved that Chad hadn't said something personal, or private, or just anything more than a short farewell.

He groaned and dropped his head on his desk. One more week. He'd give this one more week. And if he still wasn't over this ridiculous infatuation, well... well, he'd decide what to do, then.

***

"Hey, Ishida," Ichigo greeted when Uryuu was about to walk past the stairs to the rooftop. Hopefully to find somewhere private to eat his lunch, like he used to do - homeroom was usually nice and quiet, or there was that tree on the far side of the schoolyard that was usually fairly undisturbed. Distance had seemed to help last time, and after the previous afternoon, he thought even more distance couldn't hurt.

"You spacing out or something?" Ichigo snapped his fingers in front of Uryuu's face, prompting a quiet snarl.

"Shut up, Kurosaki," Uryuu muttered, and he took a tentative step away, turning to head down the hall. He nearly collided with Chad's broad, red-and-yellow-clad chest. He took a step back, cursing inwardly.

"Are you eating with us today?" Chad asked, smiling.

"Yeah." Uryuu held back a sigh. Barely. "I guess I am."

Uryuu felt like he was being herded up the stairs; Ichigo ascended ahead of him, and Chad brought up the rear. This feeling was compounded once their usual spot came into view. He took a step to the side, only to be gently stopped by a wide hand on his shoulder.

"Sit with us," Chad said. If it had been Ichigo, Uryuu could have blown him off, jerked his shoulder out of his grip, marched down the stairs. But he couldn't exactly do that to Chad, could he? Wordlessly he took a seat on the warm concrete and pulled out his lunch.

"Come to the wedding," Ichigo said out of nowhere.

Uryuu swallowed his food, swallowed again. "What? Why?"

"The guys said we should invite you, and you should come."

"But I don't—" Uryuu frowned, trying to come up with a good, socially acceptable excuse to reject the invitation. "I've got a lot of work to do over summer break."

"It's just for a day and a half," Chad offered.

"But that's—"

"They want to meet you. And Chad's band's playing." Ichigo took a long drink of his juice, his eyes steady on Uryuu. Then he gave the final blow. "For the last time."

Uryuu blinked, then stared down at his crossed legs. There was no getting out of it, was there?

But did he really want to get out of it? He'd made a resolution to learn more about Chad, to become more of a friend to him, and he knew he'd be doing them both a disservice if he refused this chance on the grounds of a simple crush. One that he'd be over soon—-definitely before the wedding, which was in a little over a month. He nodded to himself, and then looked up.

"I'll go," he said to Chad, and the way Chad smiled at him was extremely disconcerting. So he looked at Ichigo, instead. "Where are they registered?"

Ichigo shrugged. "They don't expect us ruffians to bring gifts, anyway."

"You would do well to refrain from putting me in the same category as yourself, Kurosaki," Uryuu hissed, bristling. "Find out where they're registered, or I'm _not_ going."

"Ishida," Chad said. Uryuu's head whipped around to face him.

"They're registered at Mitsukoshi," Chad said, a smile still playing around his lips. "Ichigo and Shigeo and I are going in together to get them something. You can chip in, if you want."

"Oh," Uryuu said, deflating. He glared briefly at Ichigo, who was hiding some expression behind his sandwich, then huffed out an annoyed sigh. "No, thank you. I'll get something on my own."

The door to the stairwell banged open, and Keigo's voice assaulted them in a greeting.

"Don't say anything about the wedding," Ichigo instructed _sotto voce_. "Keigo would shit bricks if he knew you were going."

"Did I hear my name?" Keigo called out, plopping down between Uryuu and Ichigo as Mizuiro took a seat against the wall.

"Yeah. We were just talking about how loud you were." Ichigo scowled at Keigo, who got even louder in protest. And Uryuu glanced at Chad, and found that Chad was already watching him.

So he looked away.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta say, writing Ichigo is fun, and I hope he's at least somewhat IC... for this alternate reality, anyway.
> 
> Lyrics (c) Radiohead - [15 Step](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjQupL16rTqAhUQQ6wKHRNkDeMQyCkwAHoECAwQBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dbgsmr7t8zGE&usg=AOvVaw33rbnpWBZbMTc6y3MAgn4t)  
> Also, last chapter's lyrics were (c) Radiohead - [Where I End and You Begin.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiRlqnk6rTqAhUKd6wKHQr1BrgQtwIwAHoECAQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpyTY6Z-Fqzw&usg=AOvVaw2hKPW9pF16Vq4EZtBXXxkY)  
> They're not all Radiohead, lol, these two just ended up stuck together ^^;


	3. X & Y

**Title:** The Suit, Chapter 3/?  
**Rating:** currently R  
**Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
**Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Alcohol use. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.  
**Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.  
****

******Chapter 3**

_Trying hard to speak and  
Fighting with my weak hand  
Driven to distraction  
It’s all part of the [plan](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjQv8fQ9LTqAhVQR60KHURrBdkQtwIwAHoECAkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuIgxY0yWLNY&usg=AOvVaw2d2H6R9MbRZpmnpF579ID3)_

Summer break seemed to sneak up on Uryuu; one moment he was reluctantly sharing lunch with Ichigo and company, and the next, he was packing his overnight bag for a trip to Tokyo. _It's funny how time passes so quickly,_ he thought as he folded a pair of underwear and placed it on top of his folded pajamas on the bed.

More than two years had passed since the Winter War, and it all seemed like a blur to Uryuu. A haze of schoolwork, projects, studying, training. He frowned as he carefully rolled up a pair of socks. Schoolwork, projects, studying, training... and not much of anything else. He glanced over to the shelf above his desk, where a neat stack of university brochures took up the space between a dictionary and an atlas.

He supposed it was understandable; one had to study hard and display excellence in one's schoolwork in order to be competitive. Especially if one wanted to win full scholarships.

Besides, he was doing something else now, wasn't he?

With a nod, he surveyed the clothing he'd selected for the trip, all neatly laid out on his bed: enough for one day and two nights, formalwear included. He glanced at his watch. Three hours before he was to meet Chad and Ichigo at the train station.

He began packing his clothing into his suitcase.

***

Uryuu thought that perhaps he should have expected the bachelor party. Western wedding, western traditions, and he told himself that he really should have insisted that Ichigo supply him with an itinerary.

"No. There's absolutely no way I'm going. That kind of thing holds no interest for me," Uryuu said firmly, stepping off the train and onto the platform, a warm, gritty wind blowing his hair into his face. It was the truth; he was not in the least interested in the 'one last hurrah' festivities that he understood a bachelor party to include. Reckless drinking, loud music, and possibly strippers: not his thing. And tapping at the edge of his mind was the deeper truth—that he'd feel out of place and very possibly unwanted. That was not the way he preferred to meet Chad's friends for the first time. He'd much rather meet them in the structured, scripted atmosphere of a wedding, where everyone looked nice and put effort into being civilized.

"So what're you gonna do?" Ichigo asked, scoffing. "Just sit in the hotel room the whole time? 'Cause we're not going to stay just because you don't want to go."

"I don't expect you to," Uryuu said, shifting his suitcase in his grip. "I brought some coursework. I'll be fine."

"We'd like you to come," Chad said from his other side. "But if you'd rather not, it's okay."

"Then it's okay. You two can go without me," Uryuu said, somewhat surprised that the argument was already tapering off.

To end it entirely, Uryuu stepped out in front of Chad to hail a cab.

***

At a quarter to two in the morning, Uryuu had begun to wish he _had_ gone with the other two, if only because he wouldn't be fretting now, nervous and tired and annoyed that he was actually _worried_. Hollows were one thing, but two inexperienced teenagers possibly drunk somewhere in Tokyo was something completely different.

Not that Ichigo and Chad couldn't take care of themselves, of course... Uryuu briskly closed his Economics textbook. Not that they couldn't take care of themselves under normal circumstances. Uryuu had a suspicion that these were not at all normal circumstances.

Uryuu glared at the pile of their suitcases stacked up on the thick blue carpeting. It was a nice room, with pleasant cream colored walls and two big beds, but he could find no joy in having it to himself. He flipped open his cell phone and frowned at the tiny screen, thumbing buttons until he reached Kurosaki's number. He gritted his teeth, snapped the phone closed with a flick of his wrist, rolled his eyes. They were big boys. If they got into trouble, it was their own fault.

This made his frown deepen. Sighing, he pushed up from the little desk, packed up his books and notes, and went to the bathroom. He was in his pajamas, rinsing toothpaste out of his mouth when he heard the snick of the front door lock being disengaged.

Uryuu wiped his mouth quickly and stepped out. He did his best not to frown at the pair, who, it seemed, were doing _their_ best not to look as intoxicated as they smelled. Even from across the room, alcohol fumes seemed to waft from them, and Uryuu watched critically as Ichigo stumbled on his way to bed. Ichigo dropped himself down on the blanket and kicked off his shoes as Chad crossed to his the other side of the room, his movements steadier.

The air conditioner kicked on, humming loudly, and Uryuu realized no one had spoken yet. He also realized that they'd never said when they'd be back anyway, and they'd invited him along, so there was no reason for him to be mad. He swallowed the last remnants of his irritation, and asked, "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah," Chad said, rummaging through his bag.

"Pretty good party," Ichigo said. Yawning extravagantly, he sat up again to unbutton his shirt.

"Good," Ishida said, nodding. He passed Chad on the way to the pile of extra blankets and pillows he'd gotten from the front desk earlier, and he was unfolding them as Chad closed the bathroom door behind him. Uryuu turned his back to Ichigo when he realized the other boy was changing in the middle of the room. He busied himself with laying out his blankets and setting his travel alarm clock.

He'd just placed the alarm clock on the table when Chad exited the bathroom, clad in an old pair of jogging shorts and a faded t-shirt with some logo on it that Uryuu couldn't quite make out. He didn't try; instead, he slipped his glasses off, folded them and placed them on the table beside the alarm clock.

"You good on the floor?" Ichigo asked, settling down onto his bed.

Uryuu narrowed his eyes as he unfolded the extra blanket. It wasn't like Ichigo to be concerned about his comfort; he suspected some subtle insult was being leveled at him, something about him being _soft_ or _pampered_. He lay on the floor and arranged the blanket over himself. "I'm fine."

"You sleep in the bed," said Chad, who hadn't yet turned down his own covers. When Uryuu glanced over at him, Chad stood from where he'd been sitting on the edge of the mattress.

"No, I'm really fine," Uryuu insisted. He rolled over to face the wall and pulled the blanket up to his ears.

The silence that followed indicated that Chad was still standing there. Probably trying to find some way to convince Uryuu to... to what? To let Chad be... considerate? Uryuu sighed, torn between aggravation and feeling a little bit grateful that Chad would offer. He closed his eyes, frowning, the aggravation gaining more ground the longer Chad stood still.

Finally, Chad moved. And Uryuu yelped when he felt himself being lifted bodily from the floor, blanket and all, seemingly effortlessly. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm not going to make you sleep on the floor," Chad explained, adjusting his grip at the back of Uryuu's knees. His other arm curled around Uryuu's back, the hand gently squeezing his shoulder. He swayed to one side and Uryuu went still, fearing that Chad, obviously too far in his cups, was about to spill them both onto the floor.

"Put me down!" he ordered in a loud, hissing whisper.

Wordlessly, Chad dumped him on the bed.

Uryuu struggled to free himself from the tangle of the blanket. "What makes you think I want to make _you_ sleep on the floor?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't mind," Chad said.

"I don't either!" Uryuu exclaimed, exasperated. "I was fine! What makes you think you can just—"

Ichigo interrupted with, "Jeez! Both of you sleep on the bed!"

Uryuu stared at Chad, feeling the color go out of his face. Chad stared back, expressionless.

"I just want to get some sleep," Ichigo grumbled.

Uryuu bit the inside of his cheek. Ichigo was right: it was late, all of them were tired, and they had to be up early. The bed seemed big enough for both of them, and he supposed it was a logical solution to their predicament. Besides, he didn't see a way to end this argument otherwise. He raised an eyebrow at Chad.

"Is that okay?" Chad asked; apparently he'd come to the same conclusion.

Uryuu sighed and flopped back down onto the bed. "Fine. I don't mind," he said, closing his eyes. He kept them closed as Chad's weight tilted the mattress. This bed, which had looked entirely spacious when empty, now felt smaller than Uryuu's own twin set at home. He heard the faint click of the lamp, the rustle of fabric, and then he felt some part of Chad's solid body press up against his arm, and he squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.

"You have enough room?" Chad murmured, settling in.

Uryuu swallowed. "Yes," he said, even though he was already seriously considering re-opening their argument. Ichigo may have been right, but this was a terrible, terrible idea. Heart racing, he turned on his side, facing the wall. Now he opened his eyes and stared through the darkness at the neutral shade of the paint, intensely aware of Chad's large frame taking up space on the bed behind him. The way it dipped the mattress down, the way he could feel Chad's body-heat even through the blanket. He could even smell him: underneath the smell of beer was the herbal scent of his shampoo and the last tired remnants of whatever cologne Chad must have put on that morning. Uryuu sighed and clenched his fist in his blanket, and he closed his eyes again, willing sleep to find him.

***

He awoke a few hours later disoriented, and had a moment of near-panic when the last shreds of a dream mingled with his reality, and he felt trapped, claustrophobic. He bit his tongue and tried to slow his breathing, doing his best not to disturb Chad, who was in fact trapping him with an arm draped lightly around Uryuu's waist and his nose pressed against the back of Uryuu's head. Uryuu struggled with decisions as his heart-rate slowed to something approaching normal. Try to move Chad's arm? Attempt to slip out of bed and settle on the floor? Do nothing, and just try to go back to sleep?

The faint, silvery light illuminating the wall in front of him suggested that it was very early in the morning. He didn't know if Chad was a light sleeper or not; didn't know whether he'd be able to go back to sleep once he was roused. 'Do nothing' seemed like the most viable option.

Another option presented itself to him, quite unasked-for. If he wanted to, he could turn in Chad's loose hold... turn until they were facing, until Chad's face was inches away from his own. Their breath would mingle, and he could slip his arm around Chad's waist as well, and run his hand up Chad's warm back. Under his shirt, feel the smooth skin, splay his fingers out and trace the hard lines of muscle...

Uryuu felt the impulse to shoot something. Possibly himself. More likely Ichigo, though this wasn't really his fault.

_Chad's breath would probably still smell like beer, anyway,_ he thought.

He sighed and closed his eyes, and before he could decide what to do, he was asleep once more.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics (c) Coldplay - [X & Y](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjQv8fQ9LTqAhVQR60KHURrBdkQtwIwAHoECAkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuIgxY0yWLNY&usg=AOvVaw2d2H6R9MbRZpmnpF579ID3)


	4. You're All I Have

**Title:** The Suit, Chapter 4/10  
**Rating:** currently R  
**Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
**Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Alcohol use. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.  
**Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

Chapter 4

_You're cinematic razor sharp  
A welcome arrow through the [heart](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi3usvIqrXqAhURCc0KHclTCtwQtwIwAHoECAQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DC8AQPGKcZOk&usg=AOvVaw1b5x-cbQqe87BJXpaa48Cf)_

It was, Uryuu was sure people would say, a beautiful wedding. All these people looking distinguished and elegant, all these yards and yards of silks, all these flowers... As the bride, Rie, resplendent in layers of almost translucent silk, marched up the aisle, Uryuu wondered how much this all must have cost.

Chad sat to his left, big hands folded loosely in his lap. Uryuu studied the drape of fabric over his knee, the way the vents on the suit jacket parted just so, and he smiled. Then he looked up, and Chad was smiling back.

So with a slightly warm face, he turned his attention out to the rest of the hotel's sumptuously appointed chapel, to the expensively-bedecked members of the audience. He began counting heads—much better than darting glances at Chad's hands, looking at the way his legs folded up, nearly too big for the narrow aisle, knees almost touching the silk-upholstered chair in front of him. Much better than remembering, very clearly, how big Chad really was, all folded around him in the hotel bed.

Uryuu cleared his throat and concentrated on the priest, and somehow he made it through the rest of the ceremony.

***

The reception was much easier. Without being squeezed into a narrow chair in close proximity to Chad, with nothing to do but listen to a ceremony celebrating love and togetherness, Uryuu was able to relax. He smiled and accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and he sipped on it as Chad and Ichigo swept him along, milling around the ballroom until the crowd around the bride and groom thinned.

Other well-wishers drifted away to get their own drinks, to greet relatives, to step outside, and Uryuu found himself bracketed by Chad and Ichigo as they approached the happy couple. Even as unsentimental as Uryuu imagined himself to be, he had to admit that they _did_ look happy.

"This is the guy we told you about," Ichigo said as an introduction. Uryuu suppressed an eyeroll and took over.

"Ishida Uryuu. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a short bow. "Congratulations on your marriage."

His cheeks heated when Rie's glowing face sharpened in amusement. "Aren't you _adorable_."

"No need to be so formal," Ichigo said with a chuckle, elbowing Uryuu in the side. The bride's face softened in a laugh, and Uryuu forgave her... it was her wedding day, after all.

"Congratulations on your marriage," Chad said beside him.

"Thank you for coming," Harutoki said to Chad, just as formally. And then he turned to Uryuu and thanked him as well, and introduced himself and his new wife. Already, the momentary awkwardness had evaporated.

Though now, Uryuu struggled to find the correct thing to say next. Chad was being characteristically quiet, and Ichigo seemed distracted, his eyes scanning the crowd. Uryuu cleared his throat.

"Oh, you made this yourself?" Rie said, and she stepped inside of Chad's reach and stroked the lapel of his jacket, picked off a tiny piece of lint. "It's gorgeous! And here, I bet Harutoki that Chad would show up in his school uniform."

Rie's teeth flashed when she laughed, and her eyes darted to her husband and then back to Chad, but Chad's smile at the dig convinced Uryuu that there was no malice intended in her teasing. In fact, there was something there that reminded him of Tatsuki, some toughness underneath the lace and the silk, and that realization eased him considerably.

He caught some sort of silent communication between Chad and Harutoki over the top of Rie's head, solemn and a little sad, and he went quiet and still inside. This was Chad's friend, this was an important person to him, and he was easing his way out of Chad's life. Uryuu felt something fall into place, felt that this went a little ways toward explaining Chad's quiet insistence that Uryuu come with them to this wedding. Uryuu breathed out and gracefully accepted Rie's compliments, and he smiled up at Chad, who was beginning to squirm under the scrutiny.

Finally, Ichigo broke it up. "Don't you two have a dance, or something?"

"Go get yourself a drink," Harutoki said, smiling. "We'll see you around." With that, the bride and groom strode away.

The open bar was well-stocked, and after his second glass of champagne, Uryuu switched to wine. He floated around the ballroom, watching Chad and Ichigo interact with their friends, and it felt about right to be on the periphery of the party. It didn't bother him; for a long while, he was grateful for the bit of private space they gave him, in this room full of strangers. He didn't realize he felt a bit left out until Chad caught him by the arm and gently steered him toward the small pack of young men gathered around a table in the corner.

"Everyone, this is Ishida Uryuu," Chad announced, his low voice cutting an effortless, mellow swath through the house music. "Uryuu, this is everyone."

"Nice to meet you," Uryuu greeted, swaying slightly when Chad's hand left his arm. Ichigo raised his glass in a lazy toast to Uryuu, and Uryuu grinned, pleased and embarrassed, and drank down the rest of his glass. Chad's arm was warm when Uryuu swayed into it, and he made no attempt to move out of Uryuu's way.

***

The band took the stage around eleven o'clock, and Uryuu settled into a hard-backed chair on the edge of the ballroom with a half-empty glass of wine in his hand to watch. He smiled when Chad appeared. A handsome man his size, in an equally handsome suit, with a bass guitar strapped around his shoulders was a stunning sight.

The band launched immediately into a song. It was something Uryuu had never heard before, but there was a certain appeal to it, especially seeing it up-close and feeling the thrum of the bass and the thunder of the drums vibrating under his feet. The champagne and three glasses of wine didn't hurt, either. Still smiling, he watched Chad on the little stage, watched the way he leaned back, hips cocked forward, with one foot planted out front to support the low-slung bass, watched his long, dexterous fingers slide up and down the fret-board. His face was unreadable as always as he laid down a deep and steady rhythm—nothing flashy, nothing fancy, but pervasive and powerful.

Vaguely, Uryuu was aware of couples in the middle of the ballroom, dancing in their finery, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the stage, from Chad. When Uryuu settled against the metal backrest of his chair, the vibrations traveled inside him, rhythmically thudding in his spine, his chest, his stomach. He took a drink of his wine and watched the confident movements of Chad's fingers as the band launched into another song, this one with a bass-driven beat that Uryuu could only describe as raunchy.

_This is not helping, not one bit,_ Uryuu thought.

Uryuu licked his lips and sat upright, and he tried to keep his mind on the straight and narrow through the rest of the set.

He was mostly successful.

***

The three-man-band finished in a climax of crashing cymbals. They held their positions for almost a minute, grinning at each other, faces flushed and victorious, and Uryuu was suddenly proud of them, proud that he knew them, proud that they could go up on the stage and _do_ that.

Then the lights came up. The musicians packed away their instruments carefully, slowly, and said a few words to each other, inaudible above the rising house music. The cheerful tune sounded hollow and tinny after what Uryuu had just heard.

Chad turned away from his friends, and for a moment Uryuu saw that soft, sad thing in his eyes again, a look so foreign on Chad's normally placid face that it made his chest ache. The moment passed, and when Chad's head swiveled in his direction, his shaggy hair fell back into his eyes, and his expression was as calm as ever.

_This is the last time,_ Uryuu thought, and he swallowed. _They won't ever play together again._ Part of him wanted to go to Chad and tell him that things would be okay, that Chad would make more friends, put together another band, that _Uryuu_ would be his friend.

But Uryuu didn't believe in platitudes like _everything will be okay,_ and he had very little experience with reassuring others. So instead, he brought Chad a fresh glass of wine and stuck with Chad and Ichigo, their own little band of three, until the reception wound down and they went home.

Back to their hotel room, in any case. They swayed through the halls, even big, solid Chad unsteady on his feet, and Ichigo dropped their keycard before he successfully swiped it. They tumbled into the room.

Uryuu stopped to get his bearings, to stare around the room. The two beds, the pile of extra blankets on the floor to his left. Some wild emotion swirled in him, making him feel reckless and light-headed.

Or maybe that was the wine talking. Either way, he turned to Chad—Chad with his messy hair, and his huge shoulders in the suit that Uryuu had made for him, and his tie loose and crooked—and opened his mouth to say whatever wanted to come out.

Chad's big hand descended onto the top of his head, and Uryuu's mouth slammed shut. The hand gently mussed his hair before it withdrew.

"You're so cute," Chad said solemnly.

Uryuu blinked, then jumped as Ichigo barked a laugh from behind him.

"You're in trouble now, Ishida," Ichigo said.

"What?" Uryuu whirled to face Ichigo, flustered and irritated, unsure if he was being made fun of.

"Oh yeah." Ichigo grinned, sinking back into his pillows and lacing his fingers behind his head. "Chad looooves cute things. He's pretty much adopted you, now. Better watch out—he'll pet you if you're not careful."

Mouth hanging open, Uryuu did another whirl that left him dizzy, and then he came face-to-face with Chad, the big man simply shrugged.

"Is that—" Uryuu clamped his mouth shut before he could finish the thought.

_Is that really all that's going on?_

There were implications to this, Uryuu knew, but ones that were impossible to puzzle out at three in the morning with a bellyful of wine and champagne. The corners of Chad's mouth started turning up, but Uryuu didn't know if he wanted to see Chad smile at him while all these connections were trying to form inside his head. So, trying not to seem aggravated, Uryuu strode into the bathroom, grabbing his suitcase on the way.

Five minutes later, dressed in a fresh t-shirt and cotton pajama pants, Uryuu splashed a handful of water onto his face and looked at himself in the mirror. With a little distance from the situation (which really wasn't much of a situation, he realized) some of that buzzy, warm feeling of general well-being had returned, and he admitted to himself that with his cheeks flushed from overindulgence and his eyes big and hazy like they were, maybe he _was_ kind of cute. And that being petted by Chad might not be the worst fate. Everything else, he'd put on his mental shelf until tomorrow.

The lamp above Chad's bed was the only light in the room when Uryuu exited the bathroom, and it lent a mellow glow to Chad's hair and the one muscular shoulder visible above the blanket. Uryuu closed the bathroom door and dropped his suitcase beside it and, swaying on his feet, he began to make his way toward the spare blanket and pillow on the other side of the room.

He jumped and nearly lost his balance when long fingers caught him gently around the wrist. Without a word, Chad tugged him toward the bed. After a brief mental struggle, Uryuu let him.

He was halfway under the covers when he heard Ichigo snort. "Told you," Ichigo said.

"Shut up, Kurosaki," Uryuu hissed, laying his head on the pillow. He tugged the blankets up to his chin and slid his glasses off, and as soon as they touched the side-table, Chad flicked off the lamp.

In the dark, with the only sound the metallic hum of the air-conditioner, the room seemed to tilt and sway around him. It was pleasant, like Uryuu imagined being on a ship would be pleasant. Chad's weight shifted beside him and then stilled. Uryuu relaxed into the sensation of being rocked.

He didn't realize he was asleep until a loud noise jerked him awake. His eyes flew open in the dark, and when Ichigo made a noise like canvas ripping, Uryuu sighed in irritation. Another snore, this one punctuated with loud lip-smacking, tempted Uryuu to throw something across the room. He'd actually rolled over onto his side to feel around on the side-table for a suitable projectile before he realized that Ichigo had quieted down. Now he could hear the thrum of the air-conditioner and Chad's slow, steady breath beside him.

With clumsy fingers, he fished in the drawer until he found a small pamphlet, which he placed on the floor beside him in anticipation of another snoring jag, and then he settled down on his side and relaxed again.

Chad moved behind him.

Uryuu froze, trying to breathe silently, and he barely kept himself from jumping when he felt Chad's fingers brush his shoulder.

"Are you awake?" Chad whispered, his breath stirring the short hair at the back of Uryuu's head.

Uryuu nodded, and then realizing that it was dark, whispered, "Yes."

Chad's hand flattened, slid down to settle over Uryuu's bicep. "Thank you for coming with us," Chad said softly, and he started to stroke Uryuu's arm. Gently, barely brushing the skin, with only the tips of his fingers.

Uryuu swallowed and closed his eyes in the dark. "You're welcome." Then he didn't say anything else, just breathed, and felt Chad's touch travel down his arm to the wrist, and then back up again. It slipped under the edge of Uryuu's sleeve and lingered at his shoulder, squeezing and massaging until Uryuu relaxed. Chad said nothing behind him. Uryuu could smell the wine on his breath, could still smell it on his own as well, even underneath the toothpaste.

Chad's big hand glided down his arm, the broad palm warm on his biceps, blunt fingertips gently skimming over the sensitive skin on the inside of the elbow.

His breath was warm and steady against the back of Uryuu's neck and his touch was soft, his motions painstakingly slow, and by the sixth or seventh time he made the whole, slow circuit of shoulder to wrist and then back again, the hair on the back of Uryuu's neck and all the little hairs on his forearms were standing straight out. Just like another part of him; the way his pajama pants dragged against him when he shivered at a light scrape of fingernails along his inner elbow made it clear that he was hard as a rock.

The hand kept moving, and Uryuu wouldn't have stopped it for the world. It was only his arm, for god's sake, yet his whole body felt on fire from it. The sensation of the whole room swaying came again and Uryuu welcomed it, opening his mouth to take in a deep breath. Fingers squeezed and stroked the long muscles of Uryuu's forearm and Chad was warm behind him, and this whole thing felt _good_ ; being touched, being this close to someone he liked, feeling drunk and reckless but _safe_. Uryuu breathed deeply, trying to stay quiet when the slightly calloused fingers sliding over his biceps made him ache with arousal that he was too intoxicated and tired to even _consider_ doing anything about.

Relief and disappointment crowded up in him when Chad's motions slowed, and then stopped, and Chad's arm curled over him. He tried to control his breathing, tried to match it to Chad's, slow and even behind him. Before his heart even stopped racing, he was asleep.

TBC...  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I LOVE THIS CHAPTER, lol.
> 
> And, here is a place I came up a little short as a storyteller: I never meant for Ichigo to be like, actively trying to be a romantic-type matchmaker. What was in my head was that he was trying to nudge them closer to being actual friends... and in the last chapter, he was just cranky and wanted sleep, so he was like SHUT UP ALREADY D:<. But I'll also say this: a huge percentage of this story basically played like a movie in my head, and it was one of those cool things where I felt like I didn't even need to steer the characters, they did things on their own. Ichigo acted almost _entirely_ on his own XD So maybe he actually is trying to make a match, and I don't even know it! XD
> 
> A ha ha, maybe I need to not write A/Ns when I've been up this long, lol?
> 
> Lyrics (c) Snow Patrol - [You're All I Have](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi3usvIqrXqAhURCc0KHclTCtwQtwIwAHoECAQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DC8AQPGKcZOk&usg=AOvVaw1b5x-cbQqe87BJXpaa48Cf)


	5. No Song Unheard

**Rating:** currently R  
**Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
**Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Alcohol use. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.  
**Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

Chapter 5

_Lazy Sundays turn to Mondays too[soon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIQo-c3Pekc)_

Uryuu's head was pounding when he woke up, and his tongue felt swollen and sticky in his mouth. He shifted, suppressing a groan... and he realized that the inside of his boxers was sticky, as well. His eyes flew open, early morning light stabbing into them. Squinting and gritting his teeth, Uryuu slid out from under Chad's arm, not even attempting to be careful about it, and lurched into the bathroom.

He didn't remember falling asleep. The last thing he remembered was Chad _petting_ him... and he remembered that he had really liked it. That he'd had an erection. Had he...? Pulse racing, he closed the bathroom door behind him, catching a glance of his dark, mussed hair and bone-white face in the mirror. Bracing himself on the sink, he squeezed his eyes closed and swallowed convulsively to suppress his gag reflex, and he breathed deeply through his nose until the threat of heaving into the sink passed.

That finally taken care of, with shaking hands he pulled the waistband of his underwear away from his skin and squinted down.

He slumped in relief when the inside of his underwear showed no stiff, crusty evidence of orgasm. It was a little sticky, and that was all; he'd been so turned on he'd leaked a bit. Which was somewhat embarrassing, but nothing as bad as he'd feared.

After he'd emptied his bladder, taken an aspirin with a few tiny paper cups full of water and brushed his teeth, he shuffled back out of the bathroom. The covers on his side of the bed were still warm when he crawled under them. Chad shifted, mumbled something unintelligible, and rolled onto his back, and Uryuu glanced over at him. Then slammed his eyes shut, because the tent Chad made under the blanket was just _ridiculous_.

Somehow, he fell asleep again, even after Chad rolled over and that ridiculous thing bumped against the back of his thigh. Later when he awoke, he thought that with the hangover he had, it was a miracle that he had woken up at all.

He kind of wished he hadn't. His head throbbed like a rotten tooth, and the earlier bone-white of his face would have been an improvement on the corpse-grey it had turned. He fumbled in his toiletries case for the bottle of aspirin again and realized that earlier this morning, he must have still been a little drunk.

He shuffled out of the bathroom yawning and wishing he could stop. It felt as though he had old, creaking rubber bands running from the hinge of his jaw to his temples, ones that twanged and cracked and threatened to break.

"Aspirin," he croaked, holding the bottle up.

"Ugh," Ichigo complained, the tiny, swollen slits of his eyelids revealing heavily bloodshot eyes. His hand trembled in the air before he managed to grab the bottle, then he disappeared into the bathroom.

Keeping his eyes nearly closed against the light, Uryuu managed to pack his bags, not caring if he didn't do quite as neat a job this time. There were limits, he thought, to how tidy he could expect himself to be, when he was suffering from a hangover of these proportions.

Chad didn't look so hot, either; when Uryuu finally stopped concentrating on making sure he wasn't leaving half his closet behind, he noticed that Chad's skin looked ashen and dull. His eyes were hidden, and at that moment Uryuu envied Chad his thick, unruly head of hair.

After a wordless breakfast in the hotel lobby, during which Uryuu and Chad carefully choked down a dry bagel each and Ichigo mechanically consumed a huge plate of food, inserting mouthful after mouthful of eggs and sausage and hash browns and jellied toast in steady, measured bites that Uryuu could barely stand to watch, they boarded the train back to Karakura Town.

***

A subtle difference in the sounds of the train on the tracks invaded Uryuu's awareness, and he hazily lifted his head from the back of the seat. Miraculously, he'd fallen asleep again. It was also something of a minor miracle that this time when he woke, the pounding in his head and the nausea that he'd feared would overspill when the trip began had both eased back, and now were perfectly manageable discomforts. Not that he felt great, but it was an immense improvement.

He turned his head to the right, neck creaking, and recognized a small huddle of buildings as they passed them. They were about five minutes outside of Karakura Town.

Yawning, he rolled his head to the left. Ichigo and Chad took up most of a center-facing bench, legs sprawled out into the aisle. Dark glasses covered most of Ichigo's face, pointed up toward the ceiling of the train car, and his mouth was wide open.

Chad's hands rested, loosely curled, at his sides, palms up. Uryuu stared blearily at them for several minutes, at the long, strong fingers, and his mind leapt back to the night before: the dark, the goosebumps on his skin, the prickly heat in his groin, the sound of Chad's breath in his ear. He swallowed, the ramifications of that settling into place now that his mind wasn't occupied with keeping his body from losing its breakfast or passing out. What _was_ that? What had happened, exactly... and what had it meant? Had it meant anything at all?

He frowned at Chad's hands and drew his gaze up Chad's broad chest to his face. Chad's chin rested on his collarbones and Uryuu now noticed, as he had understandably missed earlier this morning, that Chad's dark hair, never especially neat, was a complete mess. It was a mass of tangles, and the left side of it above his ear was ratted up in a thick brown cloud. Presumably, where he had slept on it, and in the grainy, hungover confusion of this morning forgotten to brush it.

In spite of himself and his queasy, uncertain mood, Uryuu smiled a little to see Chad looking so rumpled.

Chad smiled back.

Uryuu's heart leapt up into his throat, but he managed to keep his expression under control. "Your hair," he explained, and he raised his hand to the side of his head to mime brushing it down.

"Oh. Thanks." Chad said, still smiling—the first words Uryuu had heard him say since the previous night. His voice, even on those two short syllables, was rough, gravelly. Sitting upright, he combed his fingers through the tangles, patting it down. Uryuu faced the front of the train, and they pulled into the station, the squealing brakes shooting needles of pain into Uryuu's temples.

***

Uryuu waved a wordless goodbye to Chad as Chad boarded the city bus that would take him home, and Uryuu climbed onto the eastbound bus behind Ichigo. They sat side-by-side, squinting out the windows at the way the town seemed to glitter in the morning sunlight.

Uryuu sighed, took a breath, and attempted to banish the uncharacteristic uncertainty that plagued him. He wasn't the type to angst over things like this, for heaven's sake.

Which was why he'd hoped to avoid it altogether until college. But he was at least a little entangled, and stewing in indecision had him anxious.

He needed more information before he could come to any satisfactory conclusion. Luckily, he had a source only a few inches away, his head lolling against the back of the seat.

"Has Chad ever had a girlfriend?" he asked Ichigo.

Ichigo jerked in his seat, then cleared his throat before he answered. "Yeah. Kind of."

"What do you mean, kind of?"

"Well... there was this girl a few years ago. He liked her a lot—gave her little presents, carried her books. You know. It was kind of cute, really, seeing them together. She was just this little thing, half his size it looked like, and they were always hugging, or he'd have his arm around her, or his head in her lap."

The bus passed under a bridge, and the light boomed back in when they came out from under it. There came a long pause, during which Uryuu slid his dry tongue around in his mouth and swallowed. Ichigo squeezed his eyes closed and kept them closed as he continued speaking.

"They only went out for a few weeks, though. One day she just... didn't come eat lunch with us, and that was that. Chad was pretty broken up about it. Didn't really show it—you know Chad—but he moped around for a couple months, after that."

"...What happened?"

"He never told me. My guess is she got impatient when Chad didn't try to do anything more than hug."

Uryuu pondered that for a moment.

"Just hug?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I never saw them kissing or anything else. Just a lot of cuddly stuff. It got a little sickening, after awhile."

Uryuu attempted to process this new information, but he didn't get very far, his head filled with cotton as it was.

"And since then?"

Ichigo's head rolled to the side, and he looked at Uryuu askance from the corner of one eye.

"I think that was it, from what I've seen anyway. I haven't seen him with anyone else—I don't know if he's even liked anyone else."

"That seems strange. I mean, you'd think he—"

"It's not like he doesn't get hit on. When we go out, girls come up to him all the time. Nothing ever happens, though."

"Why not?" Uryuu asked, frowning.

"Well, you see a guy like Chad, you think he's gotta be packing, right?"

Uryuu blinked, and Ichigo went right on. "That, and I guess they think he's a lot older. I don't know, maybe they just look at him and they like him." Ichigo stopped to yawn, balling his fist over his mouth, then leaned his head back again. "But they start flirting with him, then they find out he doesn't flirt back, doesn't dance, doesn't even hold up his end of the conversation, and... " Ichigo shrugged, then threw his arm over his face as the bus took a turn and sunlight slanted in through the window. "Too much work. They look elsewhere."

"That makes sense," Uryuu said, sliding his glasses off and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why the sudden curiosity?" Ichigo asked. Then he laughed, and grimaced as if he wished he hadn't. "Last night bug you or something? I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it."

"No, nothing like that," Uryuu said, standing on rubbery legs to pull his suitcase out of the overhead compartment as they neared his stop. "I just realized that I don't know him very well. And you know him better than anyone."

"Yeah." Ichigo waved his hand dismissively. "You don't have to ask me, though. He likes you. He'll talk to you—you just have to get the ball rolling."

Uryuu breathed out a short breath, and grabbed onto a handrail as the bus lurched to a stop. The doors opened with a hiss.

Just before he exited the bus, he stopped. "Thanks," he said.

One arm still slung over his eyes, Ichigo gave him a jaunty wave with his ring- and pinky-fingers tucked into his palm.

Uryuu rolled his eyes and walked away.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> There are a few sketches in the [The Suit doodle folder](http://pics.livejournal.com/imlikat/gallery/00052rsh) :D
> 
> Lyrics (c) The Hellacopters - [No Song Unheard](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIQo-c3Pekc)


	6. Idioteque

**Rating:** currently R  
 **Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
 **Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Angst. Violence in later chapters.  
 **Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

Chapter 6

_I'll swallow until I burst  
Until I burst  
[Until I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIQ53UJMw9E)_

A week after the wedding, Uryuu received a telephone call. He leaned back in his desk chair, fanning his face with a file folder as he considered Ichigo's invitation to meet him and Chad at the park for Ichigo's sister's ball game, and then maybe dinner later. The invitation had been delivered casually, as if Ichigo didn't care whether Uryuu showed up or not... but Uryuu thought that it might do him some good to get out of his stifling apartment, where he'd been cooped up studying for a week. Fresh air and company sounded good, as did the chance to possibly follow through on his urge to get to know Chad a bit better.

Pulling a clean shirt on over his belted jeans, Uryuu's mind circled around the quiet hours spent in a hotel bed in another city. He'd decided that that was likely nothing more than... a friendly gesture, drawn out and exaggerated by alcohol. Aside from his own, unnecessary arousal--probably also the effects of the alcohol--it had simply been a pleasant experience. One that didn't necessarily mean anything, except that he was physically attracted to Chad.

The air outside his apartment was warm, but after a week of sweating at his desk it was refreshing to feel his hair lifted away from his face by a breeze.

He saw them before they saw him: Chad's large frame next to Ichigo's bright hair was a sight he'd seen hundreds of times, and the familiarity of it made him smile even as a cold, heavy weight sank in his stomach. Two children walked in front of them, looking tiny next to Chad. Uryuu raised his hand in a greeting.

"Oy, Ishida!" Ichigo called, and Chad's face brightened in a smile under his shaggy hair. Uryuu's smile widened as he took in the garish blue shirt Chad was wearing. It was nearly the color of the cloudless summer sky, and the coin at his throat glinted, a tiny sun resting between Chad's collarbones.

Uryuu joined them for the remainder of the walk to the ball-field, hanging off to the side. He found that he liked watching Chad with the kids; the littler one, Yuzu, treated him like a brother, and she laughed when Chad pulled on her pigtails, smiling. It was interesting to see Ichigo with his sisters, as well. Around these two girls, who obviously loved him and trusted him, Ichigo was much less the moody, argumentative badass. It was almost surreal to see Ichigo in the role of the dopey older brother.

Shrugging off Ichigo's and Chad's good luck wishes, Karin broke away to join her team. The rest of them took their seats in the stands.

Chad's arms seemed to glow in the bright sun, and his hair curling around his face looked terribly soft, and sitting next to him, Uryuu finally faced the dread he'd felt since the moment he first saw Chad today. Behind the dread was a certainty; the attraction hadn't gone away, and it wasn't going to. It wasn't just a crush. Uryuu knew this now. It wasn't just one of those little sparks that died down; it was something else entirely.

Now, seated next to Chad in the summer sun, Uryuu stewed in indecision. He had no experience with this, and no clue what to do about it. If there was anything he _could_ do. Chad liked him, he was certain of that... but he had no way of knowing if it was a purely friendly affection, or if there was more to it for him, too.

After all, Chad hadn't invited him here today; Ichigo had. Come to think of it, the invitations had _always_ come from Ichigo.

Chad's proximity and Uryuu's tangled thoughts distracted him enough that he didn't mind the fact that he really had no clue what was happening down there, on the dusty diamond. He clapped politely when his friends cheered, and raised his voice with them when Ichigo's sister's team won their game.

The smell of popcorn floated along over the thick, green smell of grass, and the skin of Uryuu's face felt tight and overwarm when they met Karin at the gate. Her arms and face were pink with sunburn, and Uryuu smiled despite himself at the expression on her face. She looked as if she were trying her hardest to not show how completely pleased and proud she was.

She crammed her hat in her backpack, and once she did, Chad reached out and ruffled her hair with a smile. "Good game," he said.

"Quit it, dumbass," she said, shoving at his hand and ducking away, her smile finally breaking free.

"You've got a sunburn," Chad told her, putting his finger to her chin to lift her face.

She batted his hand away again good-humouredly and walked off. "So we won. Who's buying me ice cream?" she asked over her shoulder.

They fell in behind her, and Uryuu walked at Chad's side for nearly a minute before he felt Chad looking at him. Really looking, his eyes not leaving Uryuu's face. Uryuu took a deep breath, his stomach doing a little flip.

"You've got a sunburn, too," Chad observed, and when Uryuu turned to face him, Chad grinned and dropped his hand onto the top of Uryuu's head, mussing his hair.

Exactly as he'd mussed Karin's.

Uryuu's stomach went sour, and he cringed away from the touch, frowning. "Don't," he said. He forced his face into a neutral expression as he patted his hair down, but Chad was still watching him, with concern now.

Of course Chad only liked him as a friend. Or maybe worse! Maybe Chad saw him as a kind of kid brother. Uryuu felt stupid for thinking Chad might feel more, and he felt frustrated and disappointed with himself, for allowing himself to think otherwise. For letting himself get all mixed up.

_I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it_ , Ichigo had said on the bus. And now, much as it vexed Uryuu to have Ichigo's voice in his head, well... it seemed that he was right.

They'd fallen slightly behind Ichigo and his sisters, and Uryuu stopped. "I need to go home," he said.

"Are you okay?" Chad asked, and the worry threaded through his low voice made Uryuu clench his fists.

"I... I'm probably just dehydrated. Too much sun," Uryuu said, not meeting Chad's eyes. "I'll go home and lie down." That might have even been true, but he would have said anything that would get him out from under the weight of Chad's concerned gaze and into the privacy of his own room, where he could rake himself over the coals at his own leisure.

"Do you want me to--" Chad got out, before Uryuu interrupted him.

"No. I'll be fine. I just need to go."

The Kurosakis had stopped several yards away and were watching this interaction. Uryuu took a deep breath. "Thank you for your concern, and for the invitation," he said, and he turned to leave.

And that, it seemed, was that.

All the way home, the heavy weight in his stomach and the memory of Chad ruffling his hair in such a brotherly way reminded him that whatever his plans were involving Chad... well, they were never actually going to _involve_ Chad.

_When things start splitting at the seams and now  
The whole thing's tumbling [down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuZo7pLnL7c)_

It worked like a bucket of ice-cold water to the face. With the ever-looming question of which way Chad's feelings lie out of the way, the mental mire in which he'd been entangled melted away, and Uryuu's head was clear for the first time in over a month.

Once school was back in session, he carefully steered clear of Chad. It was the easiest thing in the world to avoid a conversation with Chad; all he had to do was not start one. And Chad did have other friends, after all, and he thought it would be the height of arrogance to assume that his friendship was _so valuable_ that its absense could cause Chad pain.

It was equally easy to fall back into his old habits, the same ones he'd fallen back into after the end of the tumultuous Winter Wars. In those days, the closeness that had been kindled on the battlefield had faded as the weeks of normalcy passed into months, and the threads that bound them all together had unraveled. Just as he'd done then, Uryuu reverted to his solitary ways almost without effort: taking his lunches in unused classrooms, or in the yard when the weather was nice, and filling his evenings with the seemingly endless work of studying, projects, training.

Time passed, and Ishida Uryuu went on with his life.

***

Uryuu jammed his hands into his coat pockets and shifted on the bench, shivering. Summer had turned to fall, and the day was unseasonably cold for late September. He looked up and down the street, frowning when there was still no sight of the bus. As he cast his eyes about, a spot of color several blocks away caught his eyes, bright red against the deep browns and yellows of the leaves. He tilted his head, squinting.

It was a kite, one of those cheap plastic affairs you could find at a grocery store, and it was stuck in one of the trees that bordered a little pocket park. His brow relaxed, and he smiled, struck by a sudden memory: when he was very young, he'd spent most of one spring at that park, crouched under one of those old trees. He remembered the spiral notebook, divided into notepaper and graph paper, and the painstaking--but not very good--sketches he'd made that spring. His brief fascination with bugs had fizzled out, but he could still recall how much he'd enjoyed filling pages with drawings of dragonflies and beetles and bumblebees, and how important he'd felt doing it.

He'd never shown his father what was in his notebook. He wondered if Ryuuken had ever looked.

_Probably not_ , he thought, without any particular feeling at all.

The kite thrashed in a strong wind that threatened to rip Uryuu's scarf away. For a brief moment Uryuu thought that in that wind he smelled growing grass and dirt and the heavy, wet smell of a spring storm front moving in, and he saw, clear as day, his own small hand drawing a careful curve.

The memory was obliterated by the stink of diesel fuel and the squeal of brakes as his bus finally pulled in to the stop. He stood and leaned into the wind, and as he boarded the bus, movement caught his eye again, and he looked up to see the kite rip free of the branches and swoop up into the grey sky.

Later, in the quiet, lonely hours of that night, he wondered if he had misunderstood Chad's actions, that day at the ball park. Or if he had _meant_ to misunderstand them--if he had taken any excuse to extricate himself from that sticky situation, to ensure that he'd be left alone.

He'd always thought he'd escape from high school without the entanglements and distractions of romance. That he'd go off to university by his own means, finally cutting the last tattered ties that still linked Ryuuken to him. He'd stay gone, he'd begin his new life, and he'd never look back.

He wondered now if that was really the best plan.

Finally, nearing two in the morning, he scrubbed his palms against his dry, aching eyes, dismissed this entire mental process as unnecessarily emotional and self-indulgent, and he turned his thoughts to the next morning's exam. Within moments, he was asleep.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally two chapters? I'm not really sure how it was, though, lol. But that's why there are two lyric parts. Speaking of lyrics, all the lyrics I've used, and in some cases the whole songs, are meant to be Chad's POV. I know it's not obvious, but it was fun picking them out that way :) And I like the idea - he's a quiet guy, kind of hard to read, but he is a music kind of guy, so I know he's got songs that he listens to for different moods and situations, even if they're not the ones I used here :)
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3
> 
> Lyrics (c) Radiohead - [Idioteque](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIQ53UJMw9E)  
> Lyrics (c) Band of Horses - [No One's Gonna Love You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuZo7pLnL7c)


	7. No One Would Riot For Less

**Rating:** currently R  
 **Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
 **Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Violence. **Some gore in this chapter.**  
 **Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

A/N: I have made a minor change to this chapter - I've outlined it in the A/N below :)

Chapter 7

_Death may come, invisible  
Or in a holy wall of [fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CcTv9MDEyE) _

The call came in the middle of the night, startling Uryuu out of a fitful sleep. Uryuu shoved his glasses on and forced himself awake as he hurled himself toward the closet, and the Quincy outfit hanging inside.

Uryuu was still groggy when he rushed through his front door, his head muzzy from only an hour or so of sleep. The cold October air peeled away the last layers of sleep, and he frowned as he began a ground-eating jog eastward, trying to recall the last time his assistance had been requested. A year? Maybe a little longer than that, even. Since the end of the Winter War, Hollow activity had decreased drastically, and the shinigami stationed in Karakura could handle it himself, for the most part. Uryuu knew that Ichigo helped out, but even _that_ didn't happen often, from what he'd gathered.

Uryuu frowned and double-checked straps and buckles, upping his speed. He was still almost a mile away, yet the out-lash of clashing energies was enough to raise the hair on the back of his neck.

His eyes went wide when he rounded the last corner. It was utter chaos; perhaps fifty yards to his left, Renji and his bankai soared and swooped in the air, meeting hollows at every turn, herding the beasts toward Ichigo and Rukia. They stood back-to-back at the center of a large, milling herd of the things, picking them off as they came forward. Uryuu scanned the area as he continued on. To his right, there—Inoue Orihime's shields glowed eerily, seeming to absorb the colors in the air.

And there—Uryuu's breath stuck in his throat when he finally caught sight of the last member of their little company; backlit by the red flame of a low-flying Bone Cannon attack, both arms sheathed in power, Chad ripped a Hollow in two, and then turned smoothly to the next attacker. He looked terrible and beautiful, and Uryuu's caught breath came out in a rush that frosted in the night air.

Then movement drew his eye, and Uryuu's stomach sank when he realized what Orihime and Chad were protecting, and why the shinigami were trying to draw the Hollows to the other side of the field. Well over a dozen small forms huddled on the ground in the space between them.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime called out to him, but they didn't waste time with pleasantries. Chad turned his head to make brief eye-contact, and Uryuu took a deep breath, readied his bow, and cleared a path until he was firmly situated between the two of them.

An insectoid form hurtled toward him, all legs and mandibles and clacking bone, a child whimpered behind him, and Uryuu took aim and fired.

***

Sucking in deep, starved breaths, Uryuu wiped his forehead. He had no idea how much time had passed, but he felt exhausted and thirsty... and exhilarated, and intensely alive. He nocked an arrow—one that went wild of its mark when from the corner of his eye he saw Chad break formation to sprint forward, into the pale horde.

He saw the wayward child, inexplicably several yards away from the safety of the huddled group. He saw the Hollows that threatened the little boy. He saw the airborne beast that swooped in to attack, and was swiftly pierced with an arrow.

He didn't see the ground hugging, centipede-like monster with wicked, scythe-like mandibles until it struck, and Chad dropped to the ground, using his body to protect the screaming child.

Uryuu put an arrow through it, then his eyes widened when he caught sight of Chad's body... minus part of one leg, ripped off just below the knee. Blood pooled under his torso from another wet wound on his side, blackening the dirt.

"No!" he yelled, in unison with Orihime. Swallowing bile, desperately fighting the urge to abandon his post, he leveled a precisely-aimed volley of arrows to drive the Hollows back.

"Inuoe-san, go to him!" he snapped. "I can handle this!"

It was all he could do not to fret over his fallen friend as he took three paces backwards, tightening the perimeter and widening his field of vision.

"Stay behind me, please," he said to the crying children, his voice terse but as calm as he could make it. The familiar glow of Orihime's barriers calmed him further, and he took a deep breath, surveyed the field, and gathered his strength for what had to be the last stand.

***

When it was over, after Rukia, Renji and Ichigo approached, sandwiching the remaining Hollows between themselves and him and summarily destroying them, Uryuu bent at the waist, hands on his knees, and took a few necessary seconds to simply breathe.

"What happened?" Ichigo asked from a distance, and Uryuu's head snapped up.

"The little boy must have been hiding," he heard Orihime explain, her voice hoarse. "He was running this way, and they were after him. Sado-kun went to help, and..."

Confident that Renji and Rukia could handle the children, Uryuu finally allowed himself to go to Chad's side.

And he didn't hear whatever else Orihime and Ichigo had to say, because his stomach seized up in delayed fear at the sight of Chad's battered body. Even this far along into Orihime's treatment, Chad's ribs and internal organs were visible through a thin film of regenerating skin. Uryuu's eyes slid away from the sight of glistening wet intestines, to the severed foot resting in the dirt. From just below the knee to just mid-shin, there was nothing but a pencil-thin bridge of growing bone and a few long filaments of muscle. Uryuu watched, horrified and fascinated, as muscle and bone and flesh slowly knit itself back together.

"Chad." Ichigo dropped to one knee. "You okay?"

Chad's eyes flickered open in his face, skin tinged grey from pain and shock, and he gave a weak thumbs-up. Then he closed his eyes and went limp again.

"Sorry," Ichigo said, and it took Uryuu a heartbeat to realize it was directed at him.

"What?" Uryuu asked, frowning, still watching Chad's face.

"We didn't realize there would be so many."

Now Uryuu turned to frown at Ichigo, and he finally noticed the blood that stained the left half of Ichigo's face, painting his hair dark red and drying sticky against his cheek. "You knew this was going to happen?"

"Well, yeah." Ichigo scowled, red cracking and flaking from his forehead. "A school bus crashed this morning. When I heard about the accident, I figured there would be some Hollow activity. I just didn't know it would be this much."

"A school bus, this many kids—of _course_ there would be a lot of Hollow activity!" Uryuu bit out, trying—and failing—to keep his voice low.

"I told you already, I didn't think it would be this much!" Ichigo clenched his hands into fists, his shoulders shaking. When he spoke, his voice was low and rough, the tightness around his eyes betraying how difficult it was for him to keep it that way. "Shinsou was supposed to be here, and Zennosuke—we thought we had it covered. But something else came up on the other side of town. We called you three as soon as we realized how bad it was!"

Uryuu felt anger twist hot in his chest, felt his hands shaking like they hadn't been throughout the entire engagement. If they had all been involved in the planning, things would have been much easier... if they had all been there from the start, instead of scrambling to make sense of the situation, by this time they'd all be on their way home. In one piece. Uryuu hissed in inarticulate anger.

"Are they all okay?" Chad asked, his voice quiet, stopping Uryuu's rebuttal in its tracks.

Ichigo looked over his shoulder to where Rukia and Renji stood sentinel over the subdued children. "How many you got over there?" he called.

Renji looked down and began counting at the same time Rukia called back, "Twenty-three."

"They're all okay, then," Orihime said quietly, and when Uryuu turned to look at her, a beatific and utterly exhausted smile was spreading over her face. It was matched by the one on Chad's face, now losing its grey tinge.

"Yeah," Ichigo said, then he sighed. "I should..."

Uryuu carefully unclenched his fists. There was still work to be done here tonight, and bickering, no matter how much things might need to be said, would only make it more difficult. "Go help them," Uryuu said, his soft tone offering a tentative olive branch.

Which Ichigo reciprocated. "If I'd known there would be this many," he said, meeting Uryuu's eyes. "I would have called you guys first." He got to his feet and settled his sword on his back, glancing quickly at Orihime. "Next time, I will anyway."

At that, the twisted knot of tension and anger inside Uryuu began to smooth itself out, and he watched Ichigo's retreating back with a thoughtful expression on his face.

The trill of a bird seemed to startle Chad, who jumped, and his wince of pain was so slight that Uryuu almost missed it. Even after all this time he remembered well the feeling of regeneration; it was intense and invasive, and while the pain lessened gradually, it had still been enough to make Uryuu wish he'd had something to bite down on. But Chad's face went still again, peaceful, and the bird was joined by others.

That bright and cheerful birdsong was the accompaniment to the soul burial of twenty-three children, and Uryuu listened to the shinigami do their work—but his eyes never strayed from Chad. He saw the subtle tension fade from his mouth, so subtle he didn't notice it until it was gone. He saw the dawn break across Chad's right cheek, damp from sweat and glowing bronze, and the red of Chad's tattoo, bright in this rosy light, drew Uryuu's eyes. _Amore e Morte_. Love and Death.

There had been death all around him tonight. Death, and a desire to live that he rarely felt so strongly in his normal life. That desire to live welled up inside him, and he thought that he was not, he was _not_ living, that the routines that made up his life were but a pale imitation, done without passion.

Without love.

He looked down at Chad, slid his fingers into Chad's loosely curled hand and held it. He watched him, watched this brave man, this strong, kind, loyal man as he lay in his own blood, barely conscious, but conscious enough to squeeze Uryuu's hand back.

The shinigami finally fell silent, the last small soul dispatched, their job done.

TBC...  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally had Chad losing his whole leg, from just below the hip. However, I think that was a little too much... sooo, now it got snapped below the knee instead, and the injuries to his torso are not quite as severe, as well. Not a huge change, but enough to make me feel better about it XD
> 
> Lyrics (c) Bright Eyes - [No One Would Riot For Less](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CcTv9MDEyE)  
> 


	8. I Will Not Take These Things For Granted

**Rating:** currently R  
 **Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
 **Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R.  
 **Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

Chapter 8

_One part of me just wants to tell you everything  
One part just needs the [quiet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNEt60MoK_I)_

In the bright morning sunshine, the six of them walked quietly back toward the town proper. Even when Chad took a turn away from the group, down the street that would take him to his apartment and Uryuu turned with him, no one spoke; they all carried their exhaustion with a solemn silence.

Chad wore a coat that he'd shed when the fighting began, and that covered his tattered shirt, but one leg was mostly bare, the pants-leg left behind in the dirt. That, plus Uryuu's showy white uniform smeared with dirt, gained them curious glances which Chad seemed not to notice. He plodded on, sagging in exhaustion.

Uryuu walked beside Chad, noticing the glances but unable to care, his mind ticking. The near-epiphany that had come with the sunrise had stunned him into inner stillness. Right then, walking quietly at Chad's side in the breaking dawn, everything that had once seemed so complicated now felt so _simple_.

"Are you okay?" Chad asked suddenly, the words pricking the bubble of stillness that surrounded Uryuu.

"What?" Uryuu's head snapped up. "Why are _you_ asking _me_ that?"

Chad shrugged.

"Just... tired," Uryuu explained. "Are _you_ all right?"

"Yeah." Chad's smile was soft, almost amused. "Just like new."

"Good," Uryuu said with a nod, skimming his gaze over Chad's tattered pants. A mental flash of exposed bone and muscle made him frown.

"...Also, we passed your street," Chad said after a few more seconds.

Uryuu glanced behind him, his eyebrows rising. "Oh. Well--" He squared his shoulders and kept walking forward. "I thought I'd make you some breakfast. I bet you're going to be extremely hungry, if you're not already."

Chad's smile widened. "I don't have much food at home."

"I'll make do," Uryuu said.

Once the bathroom door closed behind Chad and the hiss of the shower started up, Uryuu stretched his arms above his head, grimacing at the dull ache in his shoulders and back. Then he walked into the kitchen area and found that Chad had been telling the truth; he had almost no food. Uryuu frowned into the refrigerator, frowned harder into the cabinets, and for a moment considered stepping out to visit a convenience store.

He discarded that idea--he wanted to be here when Chad came out. So with one last frown, he plucked several packages of instant noodles out of the cabinet and set the water on to boil.

When Chad emerged from the bathroom clad in a threadbare t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, Uryuu had a very small feast of noodles, crackers, plums and juice arranged on the low table in the living area. As he approached, it made Uryuu's heart glad to see that the shuffle in his step had faded, and that the slump had gone out of his broad shoulders. To distract himself from the way Chad's hair looked wet and clinging to his cheeks, which truly wasn't the reason he'd chosen to come home with Chad, Uryuu knelt and rearranged the dishes, pushing two bowls of noodles and the plate of rice crackers to Chad's side of the table. "You really didn't have much," he said.

"Haven't been shopping yet," Chad said, taking his place and looking down at the modest spread. He seemed pleased... and by all outward appearances entirely unaffected by the events of earlier. Uryuu's stomach, however, was still tight and sore and a little bit sour from the aftereffects of adrenaline, and he had to pick at his noodles before he could swallow a good mouthful.

Chad ate with all the appetite of a healthy teenaged boy, emptying his bowls and finishing off the rice crackers when Uryuu indicated with a wrinkling of his nose that he didn't want any.

"You going to school today?" Chad asked, reaching for a plum.

Uryuu glanced at the clock; he still had enough time to go home, shower and change, and still make most of his classes, as long as he didn't dawdle. But he didn't even consider it an option. "No. And you're not either. You need sleep."

Chad smiled, slow and easy, and he finished chewing before he spoke. "All right," was all he said, still smiling, and Uryuu wanted to sigh in relief; he'd expected some argument, thought he might have to talk Chad into taking the rest he definitely needed. And after the morning they'd had, Uryuu didn't know if he had the energy left to argue.

They finished eating in silence, listening to the morning bustle of the town outside--birdsong faded, overcome by steadily increasing sounds of traffic, doors opened and closed in the apartment complex, and Uryuu's thoughts were louder than any of these things. While he was still eating his plum in neat little bites, Chad stood and cleared the table. Uryuu watched him, watched the stretch of the t-shirt across his shoulders, the way the wet hair curled at the back of his neck, and a complicated tangle of emotions and reservations and urges and concerns made his stomach go sour again. He put his plum down, half-eaten, and rose from the table.

"So... " he said, straightening the cuff of his uniform sleeve. He'd realized, over the course of the meal, that he had no clue how one invited oneself to sleep with another person.

"Thank you," Chad said. He leaned against the kitchen counter. "Are you... "

Uryuu sighed softly. Of course he couldn't count on Chad to provide the right conversational cues, but he was too worn out to work up any frustration. He glanced at the futon, folded in the corner, then back at Chad, remembering the long fingers gently cradling his wrist, the warmth of Chad's body at his back, the sheer unexpected _comfort_ of it. When he met Chad's eyes, he was almost positive Chad was thinking the same thing.

He took a slow breath. "I'll stay, if you want," he said quietly.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he saw Chad relax, as if he'd been bracing himself to hear something unpleasant. "I'd like that," Chad said, his deep voice soft and serious.

And Uryuu had no clue how to respond to that, and his palms were suddenly clammy and his throat was dry, so he just nodded and picked up the remainder of his plum. As he dropped it into the garbage bin, Chad pushed off from the counter a few feet away. "I have some clothes, if you want to change," he offered.

Uryuu craned his head back to meet Chad's eyes, and the mental image of himself in Chad's clothes--if they'd even stay on him--made Uryuu _hmmf_ in amusement.

"They're Ichigo's," Chad clarified, and when Uryuu didn't answer right away, he added, "They're clean." As if that were the entire reason for Uryuu's hesitation.

Clean clothes would be nice, though. And as comfortable as his uniform was, it was still a uniform, made of sturdy fabric and riddled with small pockets, which were filled with a multitude of useful things. He'd just ignore the fact that the clothing belonged to Ichigo. "That would be nice, thank you."

When Uryuu stepped out of the bathroom, feeling self-conscious dressed in a ring-neck t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts that barely covered his briefs, he found that Chad had turned off the lights, closed the curtains against the bright morning sunlight and laid out the futon. He sat on it now, his back to Uryuu, arms crossed over his drawn-up knees, head bowed, and it hit Uryuu again what they had just witnessed. Twenty-three children dead, their souls freed from their bodies, and Chad only inches away from joining them. Uryuu crossed his arms over his stomach, chilled. If Orihime hadn't been there...

And that was exactly why _he_ was here _now_. He'd come in the hopes that his presence, his company, could distract Chad from whatever had him staring off into space like that, would comfort him, ease him into sleep. It wasn't the only reason he was here now, walking silently on bare feet to kneel beside the futon, but it was by far the most important one.

"Sado-kun," he said quietly.

Sado turned to face him, and after a few silent seconds his full lips quirked up in a little smile. "Those are pretty old, aren't they," he said, glancing down at Uryuu's legs.

Uryuu tugged down on the shorts, which only succeeded in baring another inch of hip. "Yeah," he said, attempting to subdue his embarrassment. "When's the last time Ichigo wore these, middle school?"

"Almost," Chad said. "I bet you're cold." Chad scooted back on the futon, pulling with him the comforter still folded at his feet--Hawaiian print, Uryuu noticed with a sort of affectionate amusement when he watched Chad shake it out.

Grateful for the chance to cover up, Uryuu slid in beside him and stretched out on his back. He shivered, and then Chad was close, his arm moving slowly on its way to lay over Uryuu's chest. Slowly enough to give him a chance to say no, Uryuu realized.

But he didn't say no, and the arm draped over him, and Chad's generous body-heat began immediately soaking into his skin. Uryuu closed his eyes and felt Chad's breath against his shoulder, and he felt something in his chest swell and tremble, and he swallowed.

Because it hadn't gone away at all. Over the months, the attraction he'd fought and accepted, and then fought and denied, it hadn't finally worked itself out, as he'd told himself it would. Seeing Chad at school, watching him with his friends, his frequent presence in Uryuu's thoughts, all that had added up to turn a little attraction into something much more profound--and much more complex.

But Uryuu could hardly even consider the complexities of his feelings when Chad's fingers splayed out over his shoulder and Chad's forehead bumped against the side of his head. Could hardly think at all, beyond, _He's alive._ Fingers shaking, Uryuu brought the arm crammed between them up and tentatively flattened his hand on Chad's leg, the one that had regenerated in front of his eyes only hours ago. Chad's fingers on his shoulder squeezed gently.

"How is it?" Uryuu asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper. He left his hand there for another second, feeling the warmth and the solid muscle under the sweatpants, but more than that, feeling the _wholeness_ of it.

"...Fine," Chad said, a low rumble in his ear. "It doesn't feel any different than usual."

Chad's arm was a solid weight over Uryuu's chest, and even through Ichigo's old shirt he could feel the warmth of Chad's breath on his shoulder. He was buffeted with images of Chad bleeding, broken, blood and bones gleaming in the huge rents in his flesh. How many times had he seen Chad fall, and wondered if he'd ever get back up again? How many times had he fallen, himself?

It wasn't a thing that he thought about often; it wasn't a thing that he let himself worry about, normally. He was what he was, and he did what he did because he had to. He knew that the others were the same. Who among them could turn their backs on a soul in need, who could ignore the call to arms? None of them could. This would continue. They would answer the call when it came, and at any time, one of them could fall. Soon enough, luck would run out.

It could happen in a month.

It could happen tomorrow.

Chad's face, grey and lifeless, his dark blood spilling out onto the dirt.

Uryuu squeezed his eyes closed as that thing in his chest shuddered, and Chad must have felt him twitch, because he raised his head.

"What is it?" Chad whispered.

Uryuu turned his face a few degrees toward Chad, met Chad's dark eyes, and it was impossible to find the words to explain what had made him tremble, what was making his hands shake still.

_You were almost gone,_ he thought, and then right on its heels: _I almost lost you._. This thought made him feel selfish, foolish, and yet, he couldn't stop thinking.

_I've wasted so much time, when I could have spoken._

But he swallowed and licked his lips, still entirely clueless in which direction Chad's feelings lie. After the morning they'd had, Chad especially, he couldn't bring himself to shatter this peace. Closing his eyes and letting his head fall back, facing the ceiling once more, he said, "It's been... a long time. Since anyone... "

Chad seemed to understand without Uryuu having to finish the sentence. _Since anyone came that close to dying._ His palm pressed against Uryuu's upper arm, fingers curling around the curve of his shoulder.

"I know," Chad said, and the chaste, careful way he hugged Uryuu against him made Uryuu swallow hard again.

"It's just that... I don't think that's something you ever get used to," Uryuu whispered. Then he took a deep breath, blew it out hard. "Forgive me. It was you, not me."

"No need to apologize," Chad said. "It's not easy, to think of losing a friend."

Uryuu relaxed at the understanding in Chad's voice, and the simple way he said the word friend. His throat tightened, and a wave of deep loneliness blindsided him. He clearly saw his isolation stretching back over the long years of his schooling, broken only by brief, intense periods of war and bloodshed. He knew that if he didn't make some changes, that loneliness could very well stretch out into his future. He could easily see himself in ten years, working long hours at a law office in some other city and going home to an empty apartment, never speaking to anyone unless it was necessary. And though that was one of the options he'd previously accepted, even hoped for, thinking of it now make his gut clench with the desolation of it.

But he wasn't lonely now. Now, he was being held by a friend, being comforted though he'd come here to _give_ comfort. He thought that Chad was one of the few people in this world who could understand exactly how his inner landscape was being ravaged.

Uryuu drew in a careful breath, aware that his eyes were wet, and that he was on the verge of losing his composure entirely. He realized that it was silly to think that Chad could read him so perfectly; probably just some fantasy his mind, in its exhausted, compromised state, had come up with to make him feel even more connected to Chad. But read his mind or not, Chad was reacting in just the way Uryuu needed: not speaking, not interrupting his thoughts, only moving now that Uryuu had himself under some kind of control.

Chad pushed himself up and slid his right arm under Uryuu's neck, and Uryuu let Chad turn him onto his side, with his back to Chad. He tried not to sigh when Chad wrapped his left arm around him and pulled him up tight against his long, warm body. Chad held him close, knees tucked into the hollows behind Uryuu's own knees, his forehead pressed against the back of Uryuu's head.

Uryuu found Chad's wrist and slipped his fingers around it, gave it a little squeeze. He felt a subtle shiver run through Chad, felt his breath come out shaking against the back of his neck, and he closed his eyes and pressed Chad's arm hard against his stomach. It occurred to him that perhaps Chad needed to hold someone exactly as much as Uryuu needed to be held.

This made a sublime sense to him, and the clear logic of it soothed him almost as much as the warmth of the embrace. He kept a steady pressure on Chad's wrist-- _I'm here, you're not alone_ , he hoped it said to Chad--until he felt Chad's breathing slow. The pitch of it lowered, became thick and heavy and even, and Uryuu listened to Chad sleeping until he too fell asleep.

TBC...  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mannn, I love these guys. I can't even.
> 
> Also, I made a small edit to the last chapter to slightly lessen Chad's injuries. Originally, I'd had Chad losing an arm, which was very in-character, I thought! XD But I re-thought it, worried I was dipping into too many cliches as it was, and at the last minute, I changed it to his leg, severed just below the hip. BUT, I do think that was a *little* too extreme, so I changed it to his leg below the knee, instead. Less blood loss that way, right?
> 
> Lyrics (c) Toad the Wet Sprocket - [I Will Not Take These Things For Granted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNEt60MoK_I) and omg, I LOOOVE this song, I think it's just perfect.


	9. Signal Fire

**Rating:** currently R  
 **Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
 **Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R.  
 **Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

Chapter 9

_The perfect words, never crossed my mind  
Cause there was nothing in there but you_

_I felt every ounce of me screaming out  
But the sound was trapped deep in [me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KD3gN6Bus)_

The sweaty discomfort of being smothered under too many blankets brought Uryuu halfway out of sleep. The heavy arm resting at his waist reminded him immediately where he was; it wasn't that he had too many blankets, it was that Chad threw off heat like a furnace. He carefully edged his feet out from under the blanket, not wanting to disturb the arm still draped around him. He kept his eyes closed until it was plain that he was irrevocably awake, then he opened them.

Chad's right arm was still under his neck, the forearm and wrist flung out, big palm turned up. In the thin light sneaking in between the cracks of the blinds, Uryuu studied the hand, the long fingers curled, hiding the wrinkles of the palm, and he knew immediately that he wouldn't be able to stand it, if he never woke like this again.

Chad snored lightly against the back of his neck and then moved, his left hand sliding down Uryuu's chest and then flattening on his stomach. Chad shifted his legs, pressing himself flush against the curve of Uryuu's body, and Uryuu's eyes flew open wide when he felt a warm, yielding pressure against the back of his thigh. The hand on Uryuu's stomach slid a few inches with the movement, one fingertip gliding over Uryuu's lower belly where the undersized shirt had ridden up, and Uryuu held his breath. Heat whipped through him. It sizzled hotter when Chad breathed out, warm breath raising the hair at the back of Uryuu's neck. Chad shifted, rousing, and that motion pressed the soft bulge of his crotch against Uryuu's thigh again, and Uryuu bit his lip.

He was so hard he was about to pop the seams of his borrowed shorts, and Chad was about to wake up.

Chad flattened his hand on Uryuu's belly, a deliberate action this time, not just the movement of a man dreaming. It only rested there for a few seconds, and Uryuu stifled a sigh of relief when it slid away.

Moving in slow motion, Chad rolled away. Uryuu's body temperature immediately lowered by a few degrees.

"Morning," Chad said, his voice rough.

Uryuu turned onto his side to face Chad, discreetly lifting the blankets at his waist as he did. "Afternoon," he said, both a return of the greeting and a good-humored correction. Chad smiled at him, his eyes completely obscured by tangles of dark hair.

Then, without another word, Chad stood and padded off to the bathroom.

Uryuu thrust the blanket away from himself. He wiped his forehead free of the thin layer of sweat, and he savored the blessed coolness for a few seconds before the bathroom door opened, and he hid himself under the blanket again.

Just as Chad exited the bathroom, a knock sounded at the door.

"Chad!" Ichigo yelled. "Chado!"

Uryuu considered for a fraction of a second, then he yanked the blanket over his head and feigned sleep.

As Chad cracked the door open, silencing Ichigo's voice, Uryuu cursed himself. _The bathroom. Why didn't I go to the damn bathroom?_

_Because of my damn hard-on, that's why._ He cursed silently, vehemently. Because of the hard-on that had wilted completely at the thought of being caught by Ichigo in Chad's bed, wearing Ichigo's old, cast-off clothing. So now he was cowering under the blanket like a child, and there was no way Ichigo would miss the person-sized lump on Chad's futon if he even so much as looked into the apartment.

He did more than look. His voice got louder as he passed inside.

"Thought you'd be up about now," he said. "I brought you homework assignments. And breakfast."

Uryuu heard the dull rustle of a paper bag and Chad's quiet thanks.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Ichigo's voice was supremely amused, and Uryuu cringed. He heard the shuffle of footsteps, then Ichigo's quiet laugh. "The Quincy followed you home, did he?"

Chad didn't answer, and Uryuu wished fervently that he could see whatever silent communication passed between Chad and Ichigo. A shrug? A smile? A disapproving frown? Nothing at all?

Then Ichigo spoke up again. "What, are you naked under there or something?" Hilarity dripped from his voice. "You can come out, Ishida."

"He's not feeling well," Chad said, and Uryuu silently thanked Chad for intervening.

"Oh," Ichigo said, the humor leaving his voice. "That sucks."

The footsteps receded toward the front of the apartment. "All right, Chad, I'm outta here. See you tomorrow."

The door opened, and Chad said, "Thanks again."

"Sure thing," Ichigo replied, and then, louder, "Get up and eat something, Quincy. Time to quit moping around." His voice was bright with amusement again, and Uryuu seethed, his disadvantage absolute. He couldn't even talk back, he thought, not without making a liar out of Chad, or encouraging Ichigo to hang around longer just to argue.

Then the door finally closed, and Chad said, "He's gone."

Uryuu peeled the blankets down to his waist and sat, wiping at his forehead and cheeks where they'd started sweating again. Chad was watching him with a wry smile quirking his lips... and after an annoyed few seconds, Uryuu forgave him. He had just saved Uryuu from quite a bit of unpleasantness, after all.

Grateful to finally have the chance, Uryuu snatched up his uniform from where he'd left it, neatly folded and in plain sight of the door. He disappeared into the bathroom where he splashed his face and rinsed his mouth, then changed out of Ichigo's stupid clothes.

When he exited the bathroom, he saw that Chad had set the table and opened the blinds, and the afternoon sunshine that crept in through the window made everything look hazy and golden and somehow dreamlike.

He settled at the table where Chad had placed silverware and plates and opened styrofoam containers of food. The twitchy irritation from Ichigo's visit still plagued him, and he tried hard to wipe the frown from his face as he spooned fragrant rice onto his plate.

Because Ichigo was gone now, and sitting across from him was Chad, who had slept all day with his arms around Uryuu.

And it was time for the two of them to have a talk.

However, resolutions made in the middle of the night had a way of weakening in the full light of day, and this one was no different. Uryuu felt his palms go clammy.

Without the urgency conveyed by a near-death experience on little sleep, the thoughts he'd had last night made less sense. Sure, he could tell Chad how he felt, but if Chad didn't reciprocate his feelings... would things still be the same between them? Or would their friendship become strained, and they'd drift apart?

After last night, he was cautiously optimistic. But Chad could have any number of things going through his head, and Uryuu didn't know him well enough to assume anything at all.

Uryuu sighed and lifted another container, sniffed its contents and replaced it on the table.

As Chad loaded his own plate, Uryuu watched him furtively, and another kind of urgency crept up on him. He couldn't put this off any longer. He had to make his decision today--either talk to Chad, or don't--and he felt that the natural deadline for that decision was by the time they finished eating.

He tried to keep his face blank as he filled his plate from the cartons spread across the table. It was obviously two separate orders, enough food that even taking into consideration Chad's big appetite, Uryuu wouldn't have thought it was all for one person.

Chad noticed his frown, met his eyes.

"Ichigo didn't know I was here," Uryuu said.

"Not until he got here." Chad snapped apart a set of chopsticks.

Uryuu sat, staring at his noodles and sauce. "This was his dinner."

"Mmh," Chad said, now chewing a big mouthful of rice.

"Why didn't he take it with him?"

Chad swallowed, took a drink of water. "If he wanted it, he would have."

Uryuu frowned, and followed that to a logical conclusion. _And if he wanted to stay, he would have stayed._

_...He wanted to give it to me._

Flustered by Ichigo's surprising act of friendship, Uryuu began lifting noodles to his lips and chewing them mechanically. It wasn't a huge gesture, but it was a small and unexpected one, and it was surprisingly sensitive, for Ichigo.

Ichigo's parting blow made much more sense to him now, seen in the light of the chest-beating, macho camouflage that it was. It occured to Uryuu then that he might not be as friendless as he'd thought. But that was something he'd have to consider later; there were more important things at hand.

His lingering irritation from Ichigo's visit melted away, and he calmly finished the rest of his plate in the hazy, syrupy light flowing into Chad's little apartment. When he took the last bite, he still hadn't come to a satisfactory conclusion regarding what Chad's feelings might or might not be, but that could not matter any longer.

Once Chad placed his silverware on his plate and began tucking empty cartons into each other, Uryuu took a deep breath.

"Sado-kun."

Chad looked up, his face unreadable.

"We need to talk," Uryuu said.

"Okay." Chad stopped tidying and rested his hands on his knees.

"What is it that we're doing?" Uryuu asked. Now that he'd finally begun this conversation, blood roared in his ears and his face felt stiff, his expression not entirely under his control.

Chad tilted his head to the side and didn't answer.

"I mean... last night. And then there was the wedding, and the hotel room. And the..." Uryuu trailed off, not knowing how to tactfully say _the time I measured you and you got an erection and I did too_. He clenched his hands in his lap with the belated realization that no amount of courage in the world could make up for having _no clue_ what he was doing.

"I think there's something here, but I might be wrong. I like you, Chad, I do, I only..." Uryuu's face was hot and tingling, and his tongue was thick in his mouth. He could not for the life of him think what to say next. What he perceived as his own failure was just as aggravating as the one-sided wreck this conversation was quickly turning into.

He tried to meet Chad's eyes, and he failed for many reasons.

Frustrated, Uryuu stood abruptly and walked to the out the window, clutching the sill hard enough to hurt his fingertips. A bus trundled by, sunlight flashing off its windows, and Uryuu was struck by a vivid image of Ichigo's red hair glowing in the sun, Ichigo throwing his arm over his eyes.

_Too much work,_ Ichigo had said that morning on the bus. _They look elsewhere._

Relaxing his grip, he sighed.

He wasn't going to go elsewhere just because Chad seemed like _too much work_. So Chad might have a hard time verbalizing his feelings. He did too, apparently.

"Chad, I'm fine with... cuddling, or whatever it is we do. But I need to know if that's all you want."

Chad was silent for long enough that Uryuu began questioning his delivery. _I'm fine with **just** cuddling_, he should have said. He realized belatedly that he'd given no clear indication of his own preferences in the matter, and that he was basically asking Chad to stick his neck out without any kind of reassurances.

But then Chad said quietly, looking Uryuu directly in the eyes, "That's not all I want."

With a surge of relief, Uryuu realized that this was _Chad_ he was talking to - Chad, who was fearless and honest, and who didn't get hung up on uncertainties, didn't play the little games that everyone else did.

Then the relief surged into something more, and Uryuu's mouth went dry. _Chad wanted to do more than just cuddle._

"Good," Uryuu said, his heart slamming inside his ribcage. "It's not all I want, either."

Chad's smile just about turned Uryuu's legs to jelly. The air in the apartment seemed to thicken, the warm light solidifying. Chad moved through it slowly, his eyes never leaving Uryuu's face. He stopped less than an arm's length away, and the thrill of imminent action after all these months made Uryuu's face, his palms, his spine tingle. He wet his lips and broke the illusion of paralysis by shuffling forward half a step, tilting his head back to watch Chad's face.

Chad's hands came up, swimming through glowing dust motes, to rest gently on Uryuu's shoulders. Uryuu's eyelids felt heavy as those big hands slid down, fingertips skimming his triceps, to come to a rest loosely encircling his elbows. Chad's eyes under the dark fringe of his hair were intense and searching, and Uryuu felt the tension inside himself boil to a head.

Pulse hammering in his throat, Uryuu tugged his arms out of Chad's loose grip and reached up, pressed his palms against Chad's cheeks.

Chad leaned down, and their lips met in a kiss. They both froze like that, Uryuu's upper lip resting against Chad's lower one, and Uryuu's heart was beating so hard he could hear nothing else. Then the sound of Chad's breathing came to him, and the breath flowed out over his own mouth and upper lip, quick and shallow.

Chad's hands splayed against his back and Uryuu kissed him again, and then again, sliding his fingers up into Chad's hair. For a moment Uryuu's thoughts were empty but for the softness of Chad's hair, the dry, rough texture of his lips, the warmth of his hands on Uryuu's back.

Then one thought appeared, bold and striking on the blank canvas of his mind: he'd never been kissed before. Eighteen years old, and this was his first kiss. _Why,_ he wondered, _why did I wait so long?_ Heart thundering, Uryuu strained upward, tilting his head and parting his lips. Rough stubble scraped his chin, then Uryuu carefully took Chad's bottom lip between his own.

Chad made a soft sound and his hands flexed against Uryuu's back. Squeezing his eyes closed, Uryuu wrapped an arm around his heavy shoulder, pressing his palm against the smooth nape of Chad's neck, and he felt the fine movement of muscle under his hand as Chad kissed him, careful and slow and sweet, their lips barely parting.

A deep tremor in his left calf ran all the way up his leg. For the first time, he became aware that he was stretched up on his tiptoes, and that his whole legs were trembling. He lowered himself to the flats of his feet; Chad followed him down partway, his lips pressing, clinging to Uryuu's before he finally pulled away.

Uryuu had to steady himself with a hand on the windowsill.

Chad looked at him, half of his face aglow in the warm light, his lips curved in a smile. A feeling of unreality washed over Uryuu; had he really just kissed Chad? Kissed? Chad? His lips still tingled from it, and his chin itched where stubble had rubbed, and adrenaline ran wild throughout his body, making his fingers tremble and his stomach twist and turn. He watched Chad touch his own lips, and he almost laughed. In relief, in sheer pleasure that it was possible for him to stand here in the sunlight and kiss Chad, who had weighed so heavily on his mind for so long.

"I missed you," Chad said, still smiling. Chad touched Uryuu's hand where it lay on the windowsill, ran a finger over Uryuu's knuckles, and Uryuu lifted his hand to let Chad grasp it.

"I thought we were getting somewhere," Chad said. He tilted his head a few degrees to one side, looking Uryuu in the eye.

Uryuu sighed. "I know. We were. I just... " He squeezed Chad's hand. "I... misunderstood something."

And that was the broadest of generalizations, and probably really explained nothing, but Chad nodded. "Do you understand now?"

Uryuu drew in a breath, let it out quickly. "I do."

It was Chad's turn to touch his face, cupping it in his big, careful hands as he pressed their lips together. Soft and brief, one kiss and then another and then he was pulling back, and Uryuu's face was burning hot when Chad's hands trailed away.

Uryuu swallowed hard and steadied himself once more against the windowsill. Chad watched him, and all he could do was watch back for the moment, stunned by the change the last few minutes had made. Chad smiled and raised a hand to stroke through Uryuu's hair, and Uryuu felt the shame of the bad decision he'd made that day in the park burn through him.

Chad dropped his hands to Uryuu's shoulders, and then sighed. Uryuu blinked in surprise, startled out of his descent into brooding; he didn't think he'd ever heard that sound from Chad. Frowning in concern, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Chad shook his head, then squeezed Uryuu's shoulders gently. "I... I have work today."

Uryuu actually had to fight to keep his shoulders from drooping under Chad's hands. _Are you okay to work?_ he considered asking, but his experience with Orihime's healing answered that question for him. Physically, Chad certainly felt better than any of them, even the ache in his muscles melted away. And emotionally, well... Chad was the resilient sort, and he'd seemed his usual self this morning.

Still, Uryuu peered up at him.

"I'm saving up for tuition," Chad said, and Uryuu nodded with understanding. As inconvenient as the the timing was, he was incapable of suggesting that Chad should shirk his obligations. Besides, Uryuu thought, some privacy to shower, and to process this new development, wouldn't go amiss.

Chad moved closer, resting his hand at the small of Uryuu's back. "You can come back tonight," he said, and the quiet hope in his voice made Uryuu feel warm all over.

"I will," he said. "I'll be here." Then he turned his face up, and Chad kissed him, still shy and hesitant.

Reluctantly, Uryuu drew away after a few seconds. He had to fight the sudden, shocking urge to ask Chad to call in sick. Just this once.

The impulse was easily ignored, though he caught the considering look in Chad's eye, and he wondered if Chad might be thinking of doing that very thing.

To remove the temptation for both of them, Uryuu took a step back, squeezing Chad's forearm as he pulled away.

"What time?" he asked, tugging at the front of his uniform to straighten it.

"Nine."

Uryuu cleared his throat and nodded. "I'll see you then."

When he walked out of Chad's apartment, he found himself remembering the last time he'd walked out that same door; it had been nearly half a year ago, that day he'd come to Chad's apartment to measure him for the suit he'd wear to his friend's wedding. He was even more distracted today as he had been then, nearly walking against a crosswalk sign twice in his bemused state. This time he didn't notice the looks he got for his fancy, dirt-smeared white uniform, he was too busy remembering the feel of Chad's lips on his own.

_There you are, standing right in front of me_  
There you are, standing right in front of me   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go :)
> 
> Lyrics (c) Snow Patrol - [Signal Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KD3gN6Bus)  
> 


	10. A Message

**Rating:** NC-17 ~~finally~~  
**Pairing:** Sado/Ishida  
**Warnings:** Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. HJ, oral, fluff  
**Summary:** With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.

Chapter 10

_And I'm not gonna take it back  
Oh I'm not gonna say I don't mean that  
You're the target that im aiming at  
Got to get that message [home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bDz2MZWKlM)_

Uryuu knocked on the door to Chad's apartment at precisely 9 o'clock. He was certain Chad wouldn't be home yet, but he'd been out walking for nearly an hour, trying to blunt the edge of his slightly nervous anticipation, and he couldn't put it off any longer. After half a minute, he'd decided to make another circuit of the block, but then he heard the click of a door opening inside the building.

The door swung open, and Chad was silhouetted by the interior lights. He was wearing only a pair of sweat shorts and a towel draped around his neck, with his hair wet and a dollop of shaving foam under one ear. Uryuu was momentarily stunned by the great leap his heart gave in his chest at the sight.

Then Chad smiled at him, and Uryuu was helpless but to smile back.

"Come in," Chad said, backing away.

Uryuu took a deep breath and stepped inside. He toed off his shoes, then watched Chad's bare back until Chad disappeared into the bathroom. Once Uryuu had lain his satchel on the countertop beside the kitchen, Chad came back out, smoothing a tank top down over his stomach.

Chad smiled at Uryuu again, then took a step toward him.

"There's something I need to say," Uryuu announced, his voice coming out harsh. He'd recited this short speech to himself over and over as he'd paced the streets, and he had to get it out before it strangled him.

It stopped Chad in his tracks; he came to a halt a few feet away from Uryuu, the smile fading into an unreadable expression.

"I have to apologize," he said. "I was a coward and a fool, and I made a mistake by not telling you how I felt a long time ago."

At that, Chad frowned slightly, then walked forward again, slowly, until he was close enough to touch.

"Ishida," he said, then he paused, corrected himself. "Uryuu. You don't have to apologize."

Uryuu frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but Chad shook his head. "When you left the ball park," Chad said, "I thought that you... weren't interested in me. That I'd done more than you were comfortable with. I thought you regretted..."

Here Chad paused, his eyes focused on a point beyond Uryuu's shoulder, obviously searching for the right words. "Sharing a bed with me," he finally said, and Uryuu's frown deepened.

"Please understand," Chad said. "I don't tell you this to hurt you, but to explain. I thought I had my answer."

"It was all a misunderstanding," Uryuu said quietly.

"I know. It was." Chad nodded. "On both sides. No one is at fault, Uryuu."

At these words, a flush of relief warmed Uryuu's face. "I didn't regret it, you know," he said.

"I know."

Uryuu breathed in, the tension leaving his body, replaced with a pleasant, tingling sense of expectation. Chad's swept his gaze over his face and down his body, then back to his eyes, and it was all Uryuu could to not reach out for Chad and touch him.

But, he realized, he _could_ reach for Chad. So he leaned forward, raised his hand, and swiped away the dot of shaving foam from Chad's jaw.

"You had a little... " he said, and Chad smiled warmly and caught Uryuu's hand in his. Then he moved in close, and his arms slid around Uryuu's waist, and he held Uryuu against him. Uryuu breathed in deeply, enveloped in the good, heady scents of shampoo and soap and shaving cream, and he wrapped his own arms around Chad. With his eyes closed, he squeezed.

The tension was broken, but silence still hung between them, and it made Uryuu want to fill it.

"I thought you wouldn't be home yet," he said against Chad's chest.

"I finished early. They let me go."

Uryuu nodded awkwardly, searching for something else to say. He was positive they'd eventually have long, meaningful conversations, and more often short, less-consequential ones, but it seemed like most of the big, important things that needed to be said, had already been. He was here with Chad, and they'd taken the necessary steps to begin... something.

The next steps, though, were a mystery to Uryuu. He was certain they involved a lot of kissing. But how to start? And was it too soon?

One of Chad's fingers skimmed along the curve of Uryuu's shoulderblade, sending a shiver racing through his body. Then Chad spoke quietly, his voice low and close. "What was the misunderstanding?"

It took Uryuu, lost in his thoughts as he was, a second to understand the question. "Oh. The park," he said, then cleared his throat. Now, knowing how Chad felt, it seemed like such an over-reaction. "I thought... you patted my head the same way you patted Karin's. I thought you saw me the same way... that I'd been reading you wrong the whole time."

Chad gave him a squeeze, then his hands drifted down to Uryuu's hips. When he spoke again, he sounded almost embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I... wanted to touch you, and that was the only reason I could come up with."

Tilting his head up to give Chad a serious look, Uryuu said, "No more apologies. No one is at fault. Right?"

In answer, Chad kissed him. It was tender, light, not much more than a brush of their lips, but Chad's hands squeezed down on Uryuu's hips, and his breath shuddered out through his nose. Sighing, Uryuu reached up to press a hand against the nape of Chad's neck. His hair felt like wet silk, and Uryuu's hand was damp when it slid down Chad's neck to his hard shoulder.

Uryuu closed his eyes, brought his other arm up to encircle Chad's neck, and he stretched upward. The little pecks turned into longer, lingering presses, and Chad's hands slid to Uryuu's sides, spreading warmth along his ribs and waist. God, but it felt good to be kissed by Chad, it felt good to have all the doubts out of the way, all the questions answered. He'd imagined this who knew how many times over the months, in endless scenarios and permutations, but none of them had felt as right as this: leaning against Chad's kitchen counter late in the evening, with Chad fresh out of the shower.

At a soft hitch in Chad's breath, Uryuu's imagination broke free and ran wild, racing forward to all the things they might do, all the things he wanted to do, all the things he wanted Chad to do to him. A lazy heat swirled in his lower belly, quickening his breathing and making his fingers clench against Chad's skin. Chad breathed out loudly and tilted his head into the kiss, and when Uryuu's lips parted, Chad's tongue licked between them, just a light, wet swipe. Light though it was, it had the heat swirling low inside Uryuu rushing upward in a quick, hot flare that left Uryuu dizzy.

He reached back to brace a hand against the counter and their lips slid apart. _Well, we've gotten to the kissing part, haven't we?_ Uryuu thought fuzzily.

Chad stepped even closer, looming over him, his thighs bumping against Uryuu's, his head and shoulders blocking out the overhead light. With his hair wet, it was no longer in the thick waves that usually obscured his eyes, and they were dark and exotic and direct and _burning_. Uryuu had to swallow in a suddenly dry mouth. Then Chad bent again, his hands going back to Uryuu's waist, his mouth once again meeting Uryuu's in a kiss.

Uryuu kept his lips closed, trying to surreptitiously work up some moisture in his mouth. He gripped Chad's waist, then turned his head to let Chad's lips slide along his jaw. He shivered when breath curled in his ear, then jumped when Chad took his earlobe into his mouth.

 _What is wrong with me?_ he thought, frowning. _It's just kissing. It's what I want._

But he knew what was wrong. It was just kissing... so far. However, he wasn't sure if he was ready to jump into everything else that might come after that. Even if, under what he imagined were normal-teenager-standards, they wouldn't really be _jumping_ into anything. They'd already spent the night together. Three times.

It wasn't as if he didn't want to do whatever came next... it was that he didn't know _how_. Or _what_ , even. Much as he would have liked it to, this kind of thing didn't come with a manual, and they'd already passed beyond the realm of his experience earlier when Chad had kissed him for the first time.

 _And this time..._ He swallowed, and it clicked in his throat. This time, there would likely be no Ichigo banging on the door, no passing out, no going to work. No interruptions. Just himself and Chad, alone together for the rest of the night. Nervous anticipation trembled and grew inside Uryuu, and though it wasn't entirely unpleasant, it still had him on edge, holding back a twitch at every touch.

Chad was kissing his jaw softly now, one hand gently cupping the opposite cheek, and Uryuu stroked lightly, distractedly up Chad's side. Then Chad pulled away.

"What is it?" he asked, his dark eyes concerned.

"Nothing. I'm fine." _I am, I am, I_ am _fine_ , he insisted to himself.

Chad's hands slid down his arms. "It's all right, Uryuu," he said.

"No, really, I--"

"Uryuu," Chad said, and Uryuu cut his protest short. "I'm nervous, too."

Uryuu sighed. Hearing that admission somehow made it okay for Uryuu to admit to his own nerves, and he felt some of the tension melt out of his back. He nodded, letting his eyes fall closed.

"I haven't done any of this before," he admitted.

There was silence, then he felt Chad's lips brush briefly against his forehead. "I haven't either," Chad said quietly, so quiet, nearly a sigh in his low voice.

Uryuu couldn't make sense of the reaction he had at that; his stomach clenched, his throat tightened, and he felt warm and somehow buzzy all over. He opened his eyes to see Chad watching him, a subtle flush coloring his high cheekbones.

"If you want," Chad said, "we could just lie down for a while."

Uryuu looked up into Chad's face, and it hit him that Chad was trying to take care of him, to soothe him, to protect him against discomfort. Uryuu had the intuition that this would happen over and over again, and in fact it would be one of the things that defined their relationship. Chad needed someone to protect. And while Uryuu was strong and capable, he wasn't indestructible, and he would occasionally need protecting... from his own interior turmoil, if nothing else.

With a deep breath, Uryuu realized that he was okay with that, if it was Chad. Chad could protect him all he wanted, if it made him happy. But Uryuu made an oath to himself: he wouldn't take advantage of Chad's nature. And he'd do all in his not-inconsiderable power to help Chad too, when Chad needed it.

"Uryuu?" Chad said.

"We could lie down. I'd like that," Uryuu said. "I'll be right there."

Once Chad backed away, he quickly gathered up his bag and stepped into the bathroom. He shimmied out of his clothes and changed into the pajamas he'd brought, used the facilities and washed up. The loud _swish-swish_ of his toothbrush inside his mouth barely drowned out the sound of his heartbeat. After he splashed water on his face, he stood staring at the closed door for several heartbeats before finally pushing it open.

Chad was out there, waiting for him. Uryuu relaxed his shoulders and reminded himself: among Chad's numerous good traits, one of his best seemed to be patience. Nothing would happen if he wasn't ready for it.

Hell, who was to say anything would happen at all? Chad was as much a virgin as he was. Thus calmed, Uryuu left the bathroom.

The apartment was dark; the only illumination came from the face of Chad's CD player and the streetlights, in little slices of light filtering in through the cracks of the blinds. The _closed_ blinds, when they'd been open the moment before. The implications of that slowed Uryuu's steps.

Music was playing quietly, something full of long, drawn-out piano chords and strings.

"It's too dark, isn't it," Chad said quietly, a few feet to Uryuu's left. Fabric rustled; the floor creaked. "Sorry. I can turn on--"

"No, it's fine," Uryuu said quickly. "My eyes had to adjust, but it's fine," he repeated. Then he turned in the direction of the voice, and as he acclimated to the dark he could just make out Chad sitting on the futon, his pale shirt glowing in the gloom, blanket rucked up around his waist. He was looking at Uryuu, but it was still too dark to read his expression.

The floor was cold to Uryuu's bare feet as he walked carefully toward him. He lay down without a word, facing away from Chad, who curled around him in a position that had already become familiar and comforting.

The music swelled and faded, and Uryuu took deep, slow breaths. Chad's hand cupped his shoulder, slid down to his elbow.

"That night, at the hotel," Uryuu said. "If I had turned over..."

Chad traced the tender curve of his inner elbow. "...I would have kissed you." His thumb swept along the thin skin on the inside of Uryuu's forearm. "I wanted to."

"Even with Ichigo in the room?"

Lazy, slow caresses trailed down his wrist, long fingers dipped in to stroke his palm, and Uryuu fought not to squirm, surprised at the sensitivity there.

"He would have slept through it," Chad said. His knees pressed momentarily harder against Uryuu's legs, then some of the warmth left his bottom and lower back as Chad shifted. Long fingers skimmed up Uryuu's triceps, and he licked his lips. _There_ were the goosebumps Uryuu remembered, there was that warm, twisting feeling in his stomach when fingers slipped under the edge of his shirt-sleeve and slid up to his shoulder, and warm breath curled around the back of his neck.

Seconds ticked by, slow and heavy, and Uryuu closed his eyes and listened the the music and melted into the caresses of Chad's hand on his arm, and into the warmth of Chad's body at his back, and he let himself be touched and stroked. Chad's fingers slid to his hip, his lips brushed the side of Uryuu's neck. Then Chad opened his mouth and kissed his neck, and Uryuu shivered, his nipples going hard. The wet warmth traveled to the neckline of Uryuu's shirt, cooling and tingling in the air when Chad moved on, and Uryuu's mouth fell open in a shuddery sigh.

On the breath of that sigh, he twisted in Chad's arms, and kissed him.

Lips pressed and slid against his own, and Chad's hand crawled under his shirt, sweeping up his back and holding him close. Uryuu nudged a knee between Chad's parted thighs to get closer, their chests nearly bumping together as their mouths moved, breath quickening already. Chad's tongue dipped into his mouth and Uryuu groaned softly, intensely aware of his own arousal, the heat prickling through him, the heaviness of his cock in his underwear. His skin felt oversensitive, and every touch, every movement made it worse, made it better, made him feel like he might explode, or like he might push Chad away from him, shuddering with overstimulation.

Chad's hand burned on his hip and thigh, the fingers squeezing, digging into the muscle. Still carefully, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to relay Chad's eagerness. The fabric of Uryuu's pajama pants bunched up with the motion and then pulled, tightening against his crotch, and he moaned softly; even that accidental pressure felt good against him.

He wanted Chad to touch it, wanted to rub it against Chad, yet he was hesitant. Even embarrassed of it. It was so _soon_ ; they'd only been kissing for a few minutes, and Uryuu was already a shivering mess.

Chad sucked on the tip of his tongue and Uryuu moaned again, and he wondered if Chad was getting hard, too. It was too easy to remember the huge tent it made under the hotel blanket, and the way it looked in his boxers, long and stiff and only inches away from Uryuu's face.

Fingers brushed his ribs, and Uryuu shuddered. It wouldn't take much to find out, he knew. All he had to do was to tilt his hips forward, move them perhaps two inches, and he'd feel it. He'd feel it on him... maybe even touching his own cock.

He groaned at the thought and mashed his mouth against Chad's, fingers twining once more in Chad's wet hair. He felt uncoordinated and shaky and slow, as if he were in the grip of a deep fever. Sweat prickled on his skin. Chad swept his shirt upward, baring his back to the cool air, and Uryuu's sigh of relief turned into a moan when Chad pulled him closer, and the thick, hard bulge of his cock nudged Uryuu's hip.

Chad gasped and inched back, but Uryuu thought he could still feel the heat of it burning along his thigh. He groaned and gripped Chad's hair, and he curled his own hips forward until his hardness nudged Chad's belly.

Holding his breath, he stayed like that for only a second, just as Chad had. But this time, as soon as he began to withdraw, Chad caught him by the hip and coaxed him close again.

The kiss had broken, and they were now gasping into each other's mouths. Chad's hand squeezed his thigh and Uryuu moved, thrusting forward and up, pressing and rubbing both of their cocks between their bodies.

"Ahh," Chad sighed, his voice rough, dropping his head to press his forehead against Uryuu's. He rocked his hips slowly, and Uryuu had to bite his lip as the rhythmic pressure of Chad's hard stomach against his cock made all the muscles in his lower belly clench.

Uryuu realized that Chad was making rough, breathy sounds-- _ah, ah, ah_ \--each time he thrust forward, and that his own breathing was loud and labored. At the next sound Chad made, a strangled groan, Uryuu's dick twitched hard in his pants, and he gripped Chad's damp hair tight in his fist.

When Chad stopped the rhythmic thrusting of his hips and pulled back, panting, Uryuu frowned and almost kept going. Something occured to him then.

"Are we moving too fast?" Uryuu asked, and was surprised by the thin, breathless sound of his own voice.

"No." Chad was still moving, untangling their legs. "I want to... "

Instead of saying what he wanted to do, he did it. With a hand on Uryuu's hip, he guided Uryuu toward him, then he breathed out heavily when their erections met between their bodies.

Uryuu sucked in air between his teeth and strained forward. There was actually less sensation now, but god, that was Chad's _cock_ rubbing against his own, their clothing not much of a barrier. He could feel the shape of it, could feel how long it was, and how incredibly hard. They bumped together again, then Chad cupped his ass and ground into him, groaning.

"Yasutora," he whispered, the name strange and intimate on his tongue. Chad rumbled out a groan and bent his head, and he kissed him, and it felt miles away from the cautious, beginner's kisses of earlier. He couldn't pinpoint the moment at which things had stopped being awkward, and had become _really good_ , but that moment was long past. And this, he thought, was sex, wasn't it? He finally understood why people were so obsessed with it; it was beyond good, it was beyond anything he could even put into words. This moment, with Chad's lips on his and Chad's cock grinding into him and Chad's big hand clutching and roaming up and down his side, was infinitely better than anything Uryuu could have imagined.

The fever was back, washing over Uryuu's entire body, and he clutched at Chad's waist and rocked with him.

" _Se siente tan bien,_ " Chad whispered, breathless, against his lips.

Uryuu didn't know what it meant, but it sounded _good_ , so he nodded in agreement and kissed Chad again. The hand sliding along his side caressed his hip, then moved inward between their bodies, the thumb stroking up Uryuu's stomach. Up to his chest, slowing to languidly circle his hard nipple, and when Chad drew his hand back down he trailed his blunt nails gently along Uryuu's skin. Uryuu shuddered and let out a surprised gasp as goosebumps flashed across his whole body. He moaned into Chad's mouth, and he thought that it would probably only take a little more; one more grind, one more crush of their bodies, and it might very well be over for him. The head of his cock tingled and his lower belly and balls felt tight, and every time Chad as much as made a sound, Uryuu's eyes went unfocused in helpless arousal.

Chad's thumb slid under the waistband of his pants, skimming through the thin line of hair under his navel, and Uryuu couldn't catch his breath any longer. He panted as if he'd just run a marathon, pulling his mouth away from Chad's. At the same time, he swiveled his hips outward... not enough to completely remove the contact between them, but enough to invite Chad's hand lower, if it wanted to go. Because oh, _god_ , he wanted it to.

It did. Chad's touch traveled down, rubbing along the outside of Uryuu's pajamas, fingers stroking the taut, heaving muscles of Uryuu's lower belly before they skimmed lightly against the side of Uryuu's cock.

"Mh," Uryuu grunted, and he turned a bit more. Chad's fingers moved slowly, almost reverently, tracing the outline of Uryuu's cock up one side and down the other. Then he flattened his whole, long hand over Uryuu's cock and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Oh," Uryuu groaned, and he felt Chad shudder. Then Chad's hand moved, rubbing up and down his cock with careful, but increasing pressure. Uryuu kissed him and tried not to thrust up too hard, and he groaned long and loud when he felt his cock twitch. The inside of his underwear was getting wet, and he was shaky and almost sick with need, and Chad's big hand just kept rubbing him, squeezing him, making his guts tighten and twist, making him moan and thrust and twitch and--

Panting, Uryuu rolled onto his back, away from Chad's rubbing hand. Chad went still beside him except for the rapid rise and fall of his chest.

"I'll... I'm going to make a mess in my pants," Uryuu whispered, voice shaky, the words tumbling over each other in his haste to get them out of his mouth.

"Uryuu?" Chad said, but Uryuu's hands were already going to his own waistband.

"You don't have to stop," Uryuu said. He swallowed and pushed his pajamas and underwear down to his thighs, then closed his eyes, his face hot.

The feel of Chad's fingertips touching the bare skin of his cock stopped his breath, and then the warmth of the hand folding around him made and shake and clutch at the blanket, now bunched up beside him. He jumped when Chad kissed him, then looped an arm around Chad's neck and opened his mouth into the kiss, his thighs quivering, fire twisting tight between his hips.

The music that had been playing, almost unnoticed, in the background faded to nothing as the CD reached its end, and in the sudden silence Uryuu could hear both of them panting.

Chad caught him in the loose circle of forefinger and thumb and stroked up to his head, and Uryuu's toes curled up tight. He let out a hoarse moan that was loud in the quiet room. He couldn't help it, and he didn't try to stop; Chad continued this, and every upward stroke pulled a moan out of Uryuu. The motions of Chad's hand on him sped, the strokes uneven, inexpert, and in the silence he could hear the soft, wet sounds of Chad's hand moving on him.

Chad's hardness dug into the side of his leg, and he clumsily worked his hand between them so that he could brush his fingers against it. It felt thick and heavy and hot, even though his shorts. Panting, Uryuu twisted his hand, knuckles gliding over rock-hard abdominals, and slipped his fingers under Chad's waistband. His fingertips encountered the fat, slick head of Chad's cock, then went lower, touching the hot skin of the shaft. His hand was shaking as he wrapped his fingers around it, his palm curving around the sticky-slippery head, and it jerked in his hand and Chad groaned, and Uryuu felt his hips thrusting up, fucking into Chad's hand, felt Chad's fingers become wet against him as precum bubbled out of his tip.

"Oh _god_ ," he hissed, shaking uncontrollably, and Chad kissed him as he came, swallowing up his moans as he poured out into Chad's hand. It was one hard spasm after another, his hips and stomach and thighs all shuddering and tensing until he was spent, and Chad kissed his lips, then carefully lay his softening cock against his belly.

Uryuu panted, eyes blurry, and he watched through a haze as Chad sat up and tugged his tank top over his head. Uryuu only had a second to admire the complex, shifting musculature of his back before Chad lowered himself to the futon, resting on one elbow beside him.

"Here," Chad said, using his bundled-up shirt to wipe at the wetness cooling on Uryuu's belly. Uryuu twitched at the touch, then sat up to help, the muscles of his midsection shuddery and aching.

Chad leaned in and kissed his jaw, nosed down to his neck and kissed there, and Uryuu tossed the dirty shirt away, and he barely had the patience to jerk his pants back up before he turned to Chad. His lips were raw and sore, his jaw starting to ache, but he thought that he'd happily kiss Chad all night. He rested a hand on Chad's chest, which was rising and falling rapidly.

Then he slid his hand down, reaching between Chad's legs to palm the heavy shape of his cock.

It was still hard as a rock. Chad groaned softly when he rubbed the heel of his hand against it, fingertips tracing the softness of his balls through his shorts.

With languid, sated sweetness singing in his veins, Uryuu pushed against Chad's chest, urging him to lie back. Chad did so, and Uryuu took a moment to look at him, at his long, dark, powerful body stretched out beside him, his face relaxed, his eyes hazy and heavy-lidded. His cock stood out from his body at a sharp angle, stretching the waistband of his shorts away from his belly, and it seemed to bob with every breath.

Just looking at Chad, Uryuu felt a fresh flare of arousal simmer through him. Relaxed from his orgasm, made confident by Chad's obvious reaction to him, he touched Chad now without a hint of hesitation. He slipped a hand under the edge of Chad's shorts and trailed his fingers down into the tight curls around the base of Chad's cock, then he pulled his hand out, pushed up onto his knees, and hooked his fingers under the waistband.

He peeled Chad's shorts down past his hips. His heart stuttered in his chest when laid eyes on Chad's bare erection. All he could do for a few seconds was stare; stare at the thick, jutting column of flesh, the shaft slightly darker than the rest of Chad's body, the head still partially sheathed in foreskin, the slick tip peeking out. Fingers shaking with adrenaline now, he reached forward and brushed his fingertips down the silky skin of the shaft. Chad made a soft noise, and Uryuu repeated the motion, pressing harder this time, swallowing as he watched the foreskin inch down to reveal the entirety of the broad head. Taut-stretched, shiny skin over firm flesh, and his breath shivered as he ran his fingertip up, between the rounded lobes of the head, to the wet slit at the tip.

Leaning closer, he took a deep breath and the scent--musky, masculine, strong--curled around in his nose and twisted up his guts. Saliva pooled under his tongue and he had to swallow again. He felt drunk, not himself. He knew part of it had to be pheromones, that _had_ to be what drew him so strongly, why he was overcome by shockingly graphic thoughts of this thick cock filling his mouth, when an hour ago he would have shrunk away from the thought of initiating anything so _involved._

But he wasn't shrinking away now; he had to try it. Had to taste it. He glanced up at Chad from under heavy eyelids, seeking permission as he brought his face closer to Chad's slick, swollen head.

As soon as their eyes met, he froze. Chad was watching him raptly, eyes shining and dark and unfocused, full lips parted. As Uryuu watched, Chad ran his tongue over his lower lip and his chest shuddered with a deep breath. It was more than enough permission, and with his heart slamming against his ribs, Uryuu closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and lowered his head.

If the smell was strong, the taste when Uryuu pressed the flat of his tongue against the fleshy curve of the head was even stronger, and it made his mouth water more, and it made him moan. Salty, savory, slippery against the surface of his tongue as he licked up, dragging his tongue-tip through the wet slit. Chad's low groan urged him on, and he gave another long, slow lick, feeling his own cock begin to twitch back to life. An open-mouthed kiss against the tip made the shaft swell in his loose grip.

A thick, strangled sound from above made him glance up to see Chad's arm thrown over his eyes, his head turned to the side. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, his dark nipples standing out hard and sharp, his stomach muscles twitching, and it hit Uryuu that Chad was about to lose it--Chad was so close that the twitch he'd just felt had to be a precursor to orgasm. This made him realize all over again how absolutely inexperienced Chad was--how he'd never done anything like this before.

That, in turn, made Uryuu conscious of his own level of inexperience, and all his instinctive, hormone-driven momentum deserted him. He looked down at Chad's still-twitching erection, at his own slim, pale fingers that didn't even wrap all the way around it, looked at the big, full balls drawn up against the base of the shaft, and he realized he had no idea what he was doing.

Frowning, he gave Chad a slow stroke, and the feel of thick veins and stony flesh under silken skin burned through his doubt, rekindled the fire in his belly. No, he didn't know what he was doing. But he knew what he wanted to do. And that was to take Chad's head into his mouth, to suck gently as it slid back out, to listen to the noises Chad made as he went back down, taking him deeper.

"Uh-hhh," Chad groaned, shuddering as Uryuu tightened his lips and pulled up, letting the head pop out of his mouth. Eyes closed, he rubbed the tip against his wet lips, covertly working his jaw. It already ached a little from all this unfamiliar exercise.

He didn't care. He slid his lips over the head, moaning a little as they passed the flare of the rim, and took in more. The way his name sounded in a throaty whisper made him moan, and he went lower, jaw creaking as his lips reached his fingers. Chad's hand clutched urgently at his shoulder just as the tip of Chad's cock bumped his throat. " _Uryuu,_ " Chad whispered harshly.

He felt the shaft swell and jerk as he pulled back, stifling a cough. The first hot splash against his lips shocked him into a gasp, and he stared transfixed as the next thick rope of semen painted Chad's shuddering abs.

His brain kicked in then, and he started stroking, and the thick moans Chad let out as he milked him through the rest of his orgasm, and the sight of Chad's body arching and shaking as he poured himself out, filled Uryuu with emotions he couldn't even name. He knew it had something to do with hormones, but there was much more than that. Pride that he could make Chad feel this good, that Chad had never let anyone else to do this to him. A feeling of tenderness at the way Chad swallowed and wet his lips when it was over, and drew his arm away from his face and looked down at Uryuu with eyes hazy with satiety and warm with affection.

Affection. That too. He liked Chad, liked him and more, and it made him feel warm deep inside when Chad reached down and gently guided him up onto the bed beside him. A broad thumb glided across his sore lips, reminding Uryuu of the shot in the face he'd just taken, and he flushed, embarrassed by it now that the heat of the moment had passed.

"Sorry," Chad said, wiping his hand on his discarded shirt.

"Don't be." Uryuu rubbed his mouth again with the back of his hand. "You were trying to warn me."

"Mh."

"Here," Uryuu said, wriggling his shirt over his head. He swiped it over his chin then handed it over, and he watched with something approaching awe as Chad wiped himself down, rubbing the shirt over his wet stomach, wrapping it around his softened cock, then pulling it away to toss it aside.

Uryuu worked his tongue around inside his mouth as Chad pulled his shorts up.

"I need a drink of water," he said, almost apologetically.

Chad nodded. "Me too."

As Uryuu drank a glass of tap water beside the sink, he found that there was pleasure in simply watching Chad walk around the apartment. Chad retrieved a sheet from the closet and laid it over the slightly sweaty futon, and Uryuu smiled, watching his shoulders, his back, his messy hair.

In the bathroom, a wet washcloth got rid of the rest of the stickiness on his stomach, and a quick scrub of his toothbrush got rid of the bitter, lingering taste in his mouth. When he came back out, the lights were off again, and Chad had put on more music: a husky, honest voice over mellow guitar chords, and Uryuu thought he wouldn't mind listening to this with Chad every night. He walked to the futon, climbed in beside Chad.

They lay belly to belly, arms crossed to wrap around waists. This put Uryuu's face level with Chad's throat, and he was fine with that; he felt raw and stripped bare now that it was all over, and the lack of eye contact felt a little like privacy in this moment. But it was privacy with strong arms wrapped around him, and somehow that made it just about perfect.

When Chad's mouth pressed softly against his own some minutes later, he startled, surprised to realize he'd been nearly asleep. He reached up to wrap an arm around Chad's neck, kissing back, and Chad's fingers were gentle on his face, tracing his cheekbone, ghosting over the corner of his lips. When the kiss broke, Uryuu sighed and allowed himself to melt into the affection, sleepy and sated.

He let the silence stretch out long, just breathing and feeling Chad's fingers glide up and down his spine, stopping to cup a shoulder-blade, palm flattening to trace the swell of his buttock. It was gentle and affectionate, and Uryuu almost wanted to say something else. But instead he stroked down Chad's side and up his back, and laid his forehead against Chad's chest, and drowsed. He let his mind skip along, touched Chad's thigh and remembered wrapping the measuring tape around it, so long ago. This reminded him of something, and he jerked out of sleep, the way he often did when he remembered a task left undone.

"Do you need me to take your suit to the dry cleaners?" he asked, and Chad stretched languidly, holding Uryuu closer. His nose brushed against Uryuu's temple, his hand flattened against Uryuu's lower back, and Uryuu became almost positive Chad was smiling.

"You can if you want. I haven't had it cleaned; I didn't want to ruin it."

Uryuu nodded. He opened his mouth, hesitated, then spoke. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but... this isn't just a one night thing, is it." It wasn't a question at all, and he was reasonably certain Chad was serious about this. But he'd learned quite a lesson about making assumptions, and knew that it never hurt to ask, besides.

"...No. It's nothing like that," Chad said.

Uryuu breathed out softly, relieved in spite of his certainty.

"You being here... feels right," Chad said. "I want you here whenever you want to be here."

Uryuu couldn't speak for a moment. He closed his eyes, stroked his hand down Chad's back.

"Did you bring a toothbrush with you?" Chad asked.

Uryuu bent his neck back and looked up at Chad, a curious frown wrinkling his eyebrows. "I did."

"Will you leave it here?" Chad asked, his voice quieter, now.

Uryuu smiled. "Yes. I will."

He made a mental note to buy himself a new one. And one for Chad too, that he could leave at Uryuu's apartment. Then he yawned, and Chad yawned in answer, and Uryuu rolled to his other side and let Chad scoop him up close.

He stretched comfortably. Chad's hand slid up his bare belly as he did, fingertips skimming around his navel, igniting a fresh coil of desire deep inside him.

"We need to get some sleep," Uryuu said, for his own benefit as much as for Chad's. "We've got school in the morning."

Uryuu's head spun at that. School in the morning. It was surreal that after this long and momentous twenty-four hours, he was going to go back to _real life_ , to school in the morning and homework at night, as if nothing had happened.

But something had happened. Something important. Even though there would be school and homework and any number of everyday tasks to be done, he'd have Chad, and he'd have friendships to make and others to strengthen, and he'd have a life that it was time to start actually _living_.

Chad held him close, pressed a kiss against the back of his head.

And Uryuu squeezed the arm around him and smiled, because he knew that now, this _was_ his real life.

THE END  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loooong A/N!:
> 
> And they actually did live happily ever after!
> 
> Thank you for reading! I'm so glad I decided to write this out and post it, I've had so much fun with it :)
> 
> The song for this chapter... I did searches for lyric phrases to begin finding music for this story, and this was the first song I found that made me go WOW, that totally fits! I know it's easy to hate on Coldplay, but give it a shot XD
> 
> The brain-movie that this was, was originally about twice as long, lol. STUFF HAPPENED, and there were some intimacy and communication problems that got worked out (Uryuu likes cuddling, but NOT 24 HRS A DAY, JEEZ), and there was some Ichigo dramas in which Chad took Ichigo's assurance that he'd call them next time seriously, and was actually planning to stay in KT so that he could be there when Ichigo needed the help (because that's Chad's thing, you know), and Ishida found out about this and he was like KUROSAKI YOU NEED TO TALK TO YOUR FRIEND and Chad was not *entirely* happy that Ishida interfered. Chad & Ichigo worked it out and their bromance continued, and Chad and Ishida made up after not speaking much for about a week (but it felt so long!) and Ichigo's dad hooked Chad up with the FIRST ANNUAL SUPER KUROSAKI SCHOLARSHIP (because once Ichigo said the thing about calling, Chad stopped making with the college application business) and Chad and Ishida moved to Tokyo together. Ishida went to law school, Chad went to vet school. And THEN they lived happily ever after XD
> 
> But wow, that is way too long, and too much stuff happening for me to write, and I never would have actually finished it. So I edited some stuff and ended it here, at what felt like a logical stopping point.
> 
> They continue to be active in my head, though :) I think I have at least one (porny XD) one-shot in me set in this 'verse, when I have time to write it. I also have a collection of 6 short-fics set a little after this story that I'll post pretty soon : )
> 
> In short! I love you all, and I really appreciate you reading and sticking with me to the end <3
> 
>   
> Lyrics (c) Coldplay -   
>  [ A Message ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bDz2MZWKlM)


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